Valerina and the Link of Ravenclaw
by Obiwanlivesforever
Summary: Join Valerina and her friends as they battle a sinister long-hidden threat in their exciting first year at Hogwarts. A lighthearted, slightly MarySueish story that I wrote between ages 9 and 11. Read on if you dare! COMPLETE!
1. Prologue & Author Note

_A/N: _

**Hello Fanfiction readers,**

**I would just like to say that I wrote this from the ages of 8 to 11 and am putting this up for anyone who wants a light-hearted read or a bit of a laugh. It started out as a 'diary' of sorts, describing the days in the life of a Hogwarts girl and her adventures which I, like so many other young Potter fans, secretly longed to have. As I grew along with the story, however, it begins to have a plot, so don't fret! Don't worry, I **_**can **_**write better than this and will be updating some of my more current stories. Warning: contains MUCH stupidity, lame insults, favouritism towards Ravenclaw, Mary-Sueishness, and TONS of copying from Harry Potter … I hope I don't get sued … Furthermore, I had a limited knowledge of Harry Potter when I wrote this, and didn't change any of the mistakes I originally made regarding the wizarding universe, although I did revise some spelling and grammar incidents. Anyways, please read, relax, and enjoy. ******

**Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own Harry Potter … judging from the quality of this story.**

Day One in Hogwarts

This is day one in Hogwarts, the world-famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Every famous wizard or witch has learned it all there – Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger. I wonder if I will ever become as great as heroes as they are … but all I know for certain is that the uncertain will happen.

Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall are Headmaster and Headmistress, and all of the students who have bravely gathered together here to learn how to become wizards or witches must obey them…

Albus Dumbledore – Headmaster of Hogwarts

Minerva McGonagall – Headmistress of Hogwarts and teacher of Transfiguration

Rubeus Hagrid – gamekeeper at Hogwarts

Argus Filch – caretaker at Hogwarts

Professor Snape – teacher of Potions at Hogwarts

Gilderoy Lockhart – Defence against the Dark Arts teacher

Professor Sprout – Herbology teacher at Hogwarts

Professor Flitwick – teacher of Charms

Professor Binns – teacher of History of Magic at Hogwarts

Madame Hooch – organizer of Quidditch games at Hogwarts

Professor Kettleburn – Identification of Beasts teacher at Hogwarts

Madame Pomfrey – nurse at Hogwarts

Madame Pince – librarian at Hogwarts

All students must be equipped with a standard-sized cauldron, a wand, books, a feather pen, and, if they desire, either a cat, owl, rat or toad. I am equipped with all these belongings, plus a ready, steady heart, a need for knowledge, and Moonridge, a female Bengal Eagle Owl. Albus Dumbledore begins the beginning ceremony by saying the third floor and the Dark Forest are forbidden, except for anybody who wants to die a most painful death. My knuckles turned white, and my heart beat at a panicking rage. We would be sorted into our houses – these were like a class, but larger. Throughout the year, the house would be like a family to us. The houses were Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Which house would it be? Some mean the gifts of great bravery and courage, while others mean slyness and sneakiness…

_**A/N, **_**this was a bit of a prelude before the actual story begins. **


	2. Team Cheers and Long Sorting Ceremonies

_Of Random Team Cheers and Overlong Sorting Ceremonies_

OR, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor

_**A/N **_**This whole story is kind of AU; it's supposed to take place several years after the Golden Trio graduates, although some of the students in their years and most of the teachers are still at school. I did switch some of the student's houses around – for example, Katie Bell is inexplicably a Ravenclaw, while I had my vengeance on Parvati Pail and Lavender Brown by placing them in Slytherin. By the way, the 'Pansy Parkinson' featured in this story in no way represents the girl in the actual books; I just like the name and used it for one of my characters, being a very unoriginal 9-year old…**

**Btw, each chapter has kind of two titles – firstly, ones that I made up just now to poke fun at the story, and underneath then, the titles I thought up when I was younger.**

The group of first year students waiting to be sorted were gathered in the middle of the cramped, noisy hall. Around us were four long tables, one for each house. The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-year students were seated in them.

"Kristen Aleta," called Professor McGonagall. I leaned forward impatiently, trying to see the girl being sorted. What was it like to be sorted? Did you feel scared and nervous that you would have to be in some rotten house all year and never move, or did you feel some mystical team spirit and excitement that made your insides tingle?

Professor McGonagall took an old, black wizard's hat and placed it on the girl's head. To my surprise, the point curled and the wrinkles wriggled and squinted, folding into the shape of eyes and a mouth. The hat instantly knew her house. "Gryffindor!" it cried excitedly.

The girl took a break of relief and flounced gaily over to Gryffindor table. I noticed it must be fun to be sorted, but I still felt nervous.

I sighed as I saw Gryffindor Angelina Johnson hugging Kristen as she proudly sat down at Gryffindor table. I wished I had friends, or would have friends, in my new house. Most students in Hogwarts met friends on the train, or in Diagon Alley, the road where most students bought their supplies for school. I had met none. A girl with wavy brown hair had smiled at me, but her mother hurried her away before I could even have time to see her again.

"Nancy Bruno."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Move _over, _you little brat," yelled the voice of a girl behind me who was trying to see. I turned around to see a first year student no older than myself, with steely black curls rippling in a shiny mass all over her cruel, annoyed face. She shoved past me and went to the front of the line. "I know it's my turn before yours, I saw it on the list!" she yelled at everyone, making the first years wriggle and whisper with excitement."

"Diane Prompton," Mrs. McGonagall called.

The girl smirked smugly and stalked cautiously up to the hat. Before it even was placed on her head, the hat could tell where she would be sorted.

"Slytherin!" it yelled enthusiastically.

I felt a nervous tingle shiver up my spine as I glanced around to see Diane sitting down beside Bruce Meredith in Slytherin table. I didn't want to be in her house at all – but I _was _a little sly, which was what it took to be in Slytherin. Maybe I would be placed in it. Then, all those long Hogwarts years I would cheer for Slytherin, and be in Slytherin, and grow up in Slytherin.

"Terry Boot."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Parvati Pail."

"Let's see – not a bad mind for playing tricks … SLYTHERIN!"

"Samantha Moon."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Jade and Millicent Bullstroad."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Sadia Mueslin."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Matthew Notts."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Winowna Wispan."

"Wisdom … yes, very wise – RAVENCLAW!"

"Lavender Brown."

"Let's see, very naughty, begs for much attention…SLYTHERIN!"

Lavender, a haughty girl with a beaming smile and long, flouncy brown wisps of not-well-brushed hair, sat down by Drika Lincoln at the Slytherin table, who welcomed her with a twisted, cackling smile. I gulped and staggered to the front of the line to get a better view.

"Mandy and Lisa Turpin."

Mandy and Lisa were twin sisters, both 12-year old girls with long, straight brown hair that ended in flashing curls. They did not look the least bit frightened as they walked, side by side, up to the sorting hat. Maybe, I thought with sluggish relief, it wasn't so bad to get sorted – but maybe these girls were just brave.

At first, a teacher of charms and spells said that the hat should be placed on the twins' heads at the same time because they were so likely to be in the same house, but Professor McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts, teacher of Transfigurations, and head of Gryffindor house, doubted that. Finally, the hat was placed on their heads one by one and both ended up in Ravenclaw.

"Rowena Waterspout."

"Of course – RAVENCLAW!"

"Brittany Hunter."

"Easily, RAVENCLAW!"

Kristen Parker, Rebecca Turner and Heather Brocklehurst were all made Ravenclaws, and then Tessie Turnstone was a Gryffindor, followed by another Gryffindor girl, Alice Drew. Lucinda Harley and Anna Sanders were Hufflepuffs, when Dolly Diamond, a nervous-faced girl with blonde hair in braids, was made a Ravenclaw.

"Pansy Parkinson."

From the Slytherin table, Parvati Patil booed hysterically. The two must be enemies, I thought.

"RAVENCLAW!"

I didn't actually know which house I wanted to be placed in, I thought as Pansy Parkinson was sent off to Ravenclaw. I had heard that Slytherin was by far the worst and Gryffindor for the greatest wizards, but I didn't know. Some of the great wizards – many of them – were in Slytherin. And my mother and father won first prize in a potions and spell show held in Diagon Alley, so did that make _them _great wizards? Most of my family was in Ravenclaw, except for my sisters Velma and Ginny, Hufflepuffs.

People often said that Hufflepuff was a silly house because of its awkward name, but Velma and Ginny are proud of their house and nobody calls _them_ silly. Besides, its talent was loyalty, and that seemed important. Hufflepuff was definitely on my wants list.

Slytherin – not wants list. Most of the darkest or meanest wizards had ended up in Slytherin themselves, and the passport to Slytherin was slyness. I didn't like slyness.

Gryffindor – maybe. People in Gryffindor brag about being the winner of Quidditch Cups and House Cups – I wouldn't want to be urged to gloat if I was in Gryffindor. I'm more of the humble type.

I really think I want to be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. If I was in Hufflepuff and called silly, but then we won some award, I could stop Hufflepuff from being called silly forever. And when the word Ravenclaw was mentioned, I just felt some pure, wonderful power, which seemed important to me. Why did I feel like this?

I shook the thoughts out of my head to get a better view. A sandy-haired girl with two front teeth missing was stepping up to the stool.

"Paige Talbot."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Renee Tambot."

"Yes, certainly GRYFFINDOR!"

"Sally-Anne Trimer."

"Yes, yes – HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Stacey True."

"Loyalty, yes … bravery, a little … certainly HUFFLEPUFF!"

Then there was Blaise Trickers, "SLYTHERIN!"… Larry Trint, "RAVENCLAW!" … Veronika Tresant, "RAVENCLAW!"… Timothy Turner, "GRYFFINDOR!" … a pair of twin girls, Ursula and Eunice Tratter, "SLYTHERIN!" and then, "Valerina Tristont!"

My teeth gritted nervously together as Professor McGonagall called my name in her icy, strict voice. All the eyes of the wizards followed me as I stepped meekly up to the Sorting Hat, my heart turning over with nervousness. I trembled with fear as I stood in front of everybody, wondering which table I would be seated in within less than a minute…

"Hmmm," the hat said coldly. It then continued, "Very curious, yes, very curious. I see courage in Valerina, for Gryffindor, and wisdom for Ravenclaw, yes, very loyal, loyal indeed, for Hufflepuff – Slytherin? Yes, lots of Slytherin … which talent is dominant? Which house to put you in?"

The hat smiled. "Oh, I know!"

I was shivering more than ever now, and I imagined the word 'Slytherin' slipping out of its mouth, I imagined myself learning and cheering as a Slytherin forever, always being by that nasty Diane Prompton. I imagined myself as a true Slytherin, sly and sneaky. What should I do?

My lips shook weakly with fear so I could hardly hear the words I mouthed out of them – _"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin, not Slytherin." _I pleaded this willingly, over and over until the hat finally said its words.

"Not Slytherin? But it's here in your head – and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, you know."

(A/N: Meanwhile, the embarrassed author inwardly berates her 9-year old self for stealing lines right out of the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone movie. Believe me, this kind of thing will happen _a lot _more in the story.)

"Well, better be…." the hat said –

"RAVENCLAW!"

My spirits leapt like the sun emerging from behind a cloud! I was a loyal, true Ravenclaw, with sprit and joy and truth. My heart began to glow again, with such wonder and spirit that it already seemed Ravenclaw had won the House Cup. I was more than a witch now – I was a Ravenclaw.

Later on, Dean Thomas-Zamboni was sorted into Slytherin, and Pipi Patil was a Slytherin too. When finally the sorting ceremony was over, we had a wonderful feast. There were tureens of broiled, buttered peas, crisp, fresh crabapples, chunky boiled potatoes, heaps of creamy mashed potatoes, enormous sandwiches, bowls of parsnip, parsley and peapod soup – which I had bowls and bowls and bowls of myself – and Wizard's Crackers. The Wizard's Crackers would have a little wand made of bread on top, and when you pulled it, the cursed cracker would explode and then form into the shape of a hat. It was interesting.

At Ravenclaw table, after the ruckus and yelling of the sorting ceremony had settled down, a blonde teenaged girl held up her hand. "My name is Kalinka Wispan. I am sixteen years old and this is my eighth year, so having graduated from Hogwarts my job is to be your Ravenclaw leader. Everyone must listen to me at all times as if I was your mother, and I will lead you to your classes and rooms. Welcome to a wonderful year at Ravenclaw."

When the remains of the feast were littering the tables, and the children, bored with eating, had gone to chit-chatting over what fun they were going to have in their first years, the prefects called their houses for silence. Then, the loud voices of the prefects rang out, giving warm orders to their houses. A tall, proud-faced girl with masses of freckles and floppy brown tangles of curls in her hair, stood up and began,

"I am Penelope Clearwater, one of your Ravenclaw prefects. Along with my partner, Kalinka Wispan, I will lead you to classes, give you schedules, and lead you in some team cheers. We will now lead you to the dormitories, as the sorting ceremony and start-of-year feast is now finished. At this moment you are a true member of Hogwarts."

My heart glowed with excitement.

***

_Stamp-stamp! _went the feet of a whole swarming crowd of excited Ravenclaws as they thundered up the winding staircases. Our thrilled chatter buzzed from head to head as we followed Kalinka Wispan and Penelope Clearwater through the labyrinth of passageways, staircases and corridors that made up Hogwarts.

These halls were different from the wide, almost empty entrance hall in which we had met Mrs. McGonagall. They were narrow and the murmuring stampede of students had to push together to make it through. Their floors were smooth, polished marble and their walls were of rough rock with many decorative, ancient-looking window archways and well-carved torch holders. Small fires flamed on each torch. There were doorways lining the halls, and I assumed they would lead to offices and classrooms. I supposed I would soon miraculously know my whole way around Hogwarts – every winding hall and corridor.

Finally, we walked through a short, dark archway, pressing against the stony walls in order to make room for Gryffindor, which was also slithering through the same passageway. When we emerged, an amazing sight met our eyes – thousands of _moving _staircases crisscrossing over a large, deep gap. This gap went on and on and on until it reached the ground. Then I realized it wasn't a gap at all – it was the inside of a tower, hollowed out, and the only way to get up was the tiny staircases and pathways clinging to the walls!

These halls were different. They were certainly crowded and noisy, and they were built against the walls. They were like bridges over this giant gap. Also, the walls were draped with tapestries and pictures – _moving_ pictures! All of the children's eyes met the dazzling portraits as the pictures waved and smiled back at us. The enormous walls seemed alive with the thousands of moving pictures. There were so many pictures that the walls were hardly visible.

Finally, as we trooped up a short stone staircase of a muddy-yellow color, capes trailing over the floor with a hissing noise like snakes, Gryffindor broke away from us as they followed their leader down another staircase. We were all alone now, just Ravenclaw. That made me feel somewhat satisfied and pleased. _Just alone with my Hogwarts family – a chance to get to know them, _I thought.

The booming explanations of Penelope Clearwater shattered my dreamy thoughts as I shook my head and stared up the staircase at our prefect, my eyes turning to look at a lacy ballerina in a picture, pirouetting.

"Please follow me, Ravenclaws. This is the most direct path to the dormitories, and you will have to follow it every day to get to classes. In a few weeks you will know it all. Trust me."

"_Imagine _getting to know all these passageways!" I exclaimed to a blonde second-year next to me.

She smiled at me, and then beamed in a whispery voice, "It seems incredible, doesn't it. Every passageway seems to lead to a new corridor with hallways branching off it. But you will get used to it." Then she pushed past bushy-haired Terry Boot, making her way up the stairs to stand behind the prefects.

When it seemed like we had gone so high that there wasn't anywhere else to go, Kalinka Wispan held out her hand to cease the line. The clattering of our shoes died away as we stood still, robes occasionally swishing with impatience. We were standing in front of a large, silver-framed portrait. The colors were misty and pastel, but I could make out a young man on horseback setting a raven free. In the background was an opaque, murky lake, and a few trees were standing like serious, green guards looming over the man and horse.

The man turned his head slowly, paint chips sweeping off the painting at this movement, and answered in a cheerful, bright voice that sounded like it had a Medieval English accent, "Password?"

I didn't understand it. This was the top of the tower, we hadn't found our common room yet, and our prefects were wasting time talking to a picture? I couldn't believe it. Brow wrinkled with anger, I stormed past flapping capes up the staircase to ask the prefects why they were washing time, when fourth-year Brooklyn Acrilla stopped me with a wave of her hand. I jerked my head up, and my eyes widened at what had happened. I gaped in astonishment!

Kalinka Wispan murmured the password, and the picture opened like a door, but not quite – more of a door made of a picture. It revealed a short passageway, and at the end of it was a small room!

Exhausted, but caught in amazement and thrill, Ravenclaw pushed through the opening and threw themselves onto the available couches for a rest. The non-first years just nodded their heads and closed their eyes exasperatedly, but the first-years' heads filled with wonder, and our sleepiness was lifted away as we stared around the small room.

It was the Ravenclaw common room! Four long couches plumped with mounds of satiny blue and silver pillows were fencing in a small table with a drooping place mat adorning it. The place mats, as well as a rug under the table, were adorned with a magnificent, wise-looking silver raven. Its powerful, feathery wings were opened in a swoop, and its piercing beak was open, probably letting out a fierce but beautiful cry of freedom. A silver and blue border of pretty swirling shapes surrounded the Raven, then the mats gave way to a vivid sky blue. The table was covered in candy – chocolate Wizard's Hats, the Wizard's Crackers I had seen at the opening ceremony, chocolate-flavoured gummy worms, and Every-Flavour Bertie Bott's Beans. But my hunger was less than a mere memory – vanished from me as I looked around in astonishment at the rest of the room. Fantastic, elaborate turrets holding torches lined the walls, with elegant tapestries flowing beneath them. The tapestries were also decorated by the raven and colors.

I squinted at the tapestries and torches. For a split second, I confusedly wondered why the torches didn't burn the tapestries to ash, but I suddenly realized that a charm must have been put on the candles so that they didn't scorch the tapestries.

I ate a few Bertie Bott's jellybeans, preferring the less-disgusting pineapple, strawberry, chocolate, peppermint and lemon flavoured ones to the vomit, raisin, root, earwax, spinach, liver and snot flavoured beans, as Kalinka Wispan addressed this as the Ravenclaw common room and explained that we were supposed to meet here every morning and evening before and after classes, and that our belongings had magically been transported up into the dormitories. Finally, we marched up the winding staircases, finding the boys' dormitories at the top left, and the girls' at the right.

I spent the rest of the day studying what we would be learning about and filling up notebooks with information. I got to know a few Ravenclaws – twins Mandy and Lisa Turpin, who had been argued over during the sorting ceremony, blonde Katie Bell, the second year whom I had asked about passageways and corridors, and Alicia McTamble, who was on the team of a game called Quidditch.

Soon, after I was given a cloak with a Ravenclaw symbol on it, a blue and white scarf, and a blue and white tie, I sat on the girls' dorm windowsill stroking Moonridge's ruffled, messy feathers and staring out at the blue moat and spiralling towers. I couldn't believe I had already plunged into the wonders of wizardry and was already sucking knowledge in everywhere. I couldn't believe I was in Ravenclaw, the house I had most wanted to be in. I would have confidence and faith in _Ravenclaw, _cheer for _Ravenclaw, _celebrate triumphs and joy as a _Ravenclaw._

Then, all of Ravenclaw chanted in a thunderous voice that seemed to shake the corridors,

"_In Ravenclaw, wise old Ravenclaw,_

_We encourage all classmates brave,_

_We act ever wise and learn many spells,_

_And try our best in Quidditch."_

I was ready. I was brave and smart.

I was in Ravenclaw.


	3. KnowitAlls, NewFriends & Unhealthy Meals

_Of Know-it-Alls, New Friends, and Unhealthy Lunches_

OR, Pamella and Other Students

Day Two in Hogwarts

Today, in Hogwarts, Ravenclaw learned their first lesson in the wonders of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the first sign of sunlight slanting weakly through the stain glass windows of Ravenclaw dormitory, I opened my eyes. My heart began to beat faster with excitement as I realized that I would learn my first class today, then faster as I realized a girl had waited for me to wake up.

"I wondered when you would wake up. I wanted to stay here to make sure you did," she said sincerely. Her kind, beaming eyes had a twinkle of friendship in them, and her brown hair was a waterfall of curls and waves that swirled down to her shoulders and lapped there, ending in a pretty swirl. Her hair made me think of the misty, opaque, azure waves of a real waterfall plummeting into a foamy river.

I thought I recognized her.

She smoothed back her hair and tied it into a neat ponytail. "Everyone's in the Ravenclaw common room, getting ready for class. I see you'd better put on your robes, and by the way, I'm Pamella Parkinson." She shrugged humbly. "What's your name?"

"Oh," I yawned drowsily, pushing myself out of bed. I was very exhausted and I longed to stay under the warm covers of the hugging blankets. But a new day was calling me. I couldn't rest. I had to get up, to talk with others and form friendships, to learn.

"I'm Valerie Tristont, but people always call me Valerina because it sounds more magical," I answered her, batting at a sweaty clump of red bangs on my forehead. I smoothed down my caramel colored hair and did it in a tight braid, then whisked my robes and Ravenclaw scarf on. They were colored blue and white, the colors of Ravenclaw.

Then I knew who she was! She was the wavy-haired girl who had smiled at me in Diagon Alley!

I got up. "Let's go, Pamella," I exclaimed, and we thundered down the stairs, through the hall, and into the Ravenclaw common room.

"There you are, Pammy!" called out Rowena Waterspout. "Now we can actually go to class!" A few other girls shot up from their chairs and rumbles of excitement whispered through the crowds of Ravenclaw students as Kalinka Wispan stepped into the common room.

"Ravenclaw, we've got Professor Snape – potions," she announced sweetly. "You'll need books and your cauldrons, and a steady, wise heart. But I won't be telling you what to do for long. Next week you will get used to the routine of waiting for Dumbledore to come into our common room and give you a schedule, as well as a map of the school."

I fumbled through the books in my suitcase. "Spell dictionary … owl care … there, Potions! Perfect!" I grabbed the book and my cauldron, and we lined up and sped eagerly down the halls. As we left the common room and streaked down the winding staircases and hallways, it seemed I had left the comfortable grip of babyish stay-at-home life and was going to go through the door of knowledge. I was going to learn my first lesson in the wonders of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

***

Professor Snape's room was low and dusty. It was a small, quiet, still room draped with shadows and darkness, with a few flaming torches in the corner. I wanted to be outside in the misty, early daylight, feeling the slippery wet grass beneath my feet and feeling that free sensation you feel on early mornings, but this was school, and I still felt excited about learning.

There was no sign of our professor of potions, so we seated ourselves. At first I felt a little awkward and didn't know where to sit. All the stone desks were being taken by friends, but I hadn't met any good, true friends yet. I didn't know what to do, until I felt a gentle nudge on my shoulder. It was Pamella Parkinson again.

"I'd like to sit by you – if it's okay," she offered meekly.

A wide smile spread across my face. There was always a good side in everything, and a bond was forming between Pamella and I. We sat by the steaming, bubbling cauldron on Professor Snape's desk. Foamy liquid was pouring down the dusty sides, leaving behind polished black streaks.

"I know what that is!" yelled a girl in the back. "It's a cleaning potion, which takes away dust and leaves a shiny surface on whatever it touches!"

"We've got some serious studying to do," I laughed happily to Pamella, and suddenly felt cautious. Had I made her unhappy by saying we weren't as good as the other girl?

But Pamella only giggled. "We'll catch up."

We began to look up potions in our books when the doors flew open and a shadowy, cloaked figure stalked in, robes flapping behind him. He turned to reveal the stern, grumpy face of Professor Snape. His dark, raven's-feather black cloaks flapped as he turned around to face us. We put away our books and listened eagerly to his speech.

"There will be no silly or foolish behaviour in this class," he began strictly, glaring at all of us. I hated his stern, angry gaze, which seemed to seize us, waiting for us to do something 'silly or foolish.' I noticed that, unlike I had thought, Hogwarts was not all joy and teamwork – you had to pay attention and behave, too.

I stopped wriggling and stared uncomfortably at Professor Snape. His face seemed to grow more impatient with every moment. Finally his eyes stopped scanning the room for any misbehaving students and he continued gravely in a slow, drawling voice that sobered the whole class,

"I hope none of you can imagine the foul business and seriousness that is making potions. It is a nasty business and can only be understood by the greatest wizards and witches. As for all of you, failures may rest upon your shoulders if you do not – pay – attention."

My hands tensed with fear as my heart turned over. If this was Professor Snape being friendly, how could I tolerate him angry? I couldn't read his mind – what really was a failure, and how could I succeed? This was a difficult class.

"I can teach you the trickiest and foulest potions known to wizardkind," he rumbled. "Like how to brew the Polyjuice potion, which transforms the drinker into another figure. I can teach you potions which make the drinker fly, walk on air or even survive death."

Some of the kids' eyes widened, and they couldn't control themselves for whispering. None of them could wait to try out a potion. Secretly I wrote a list:

_Professor Snape:_

_Polyjuice potion_

_Flying potions_

_Walking on air potions_

_Surviving death potions_

Professor Snape went through a long speech about potions, and after that he made us look up information in our books and write down what we had learned. By the time we left, which was 10:30, we had swelled with our first knowledge of the Wizarding world. Professor Snape seemed exceptionally pleased with Ravenclaw, which I knew was a good sign.

***

"Good morning, Ravenclaw," Mrs. McGonagall invited politely.

"Good morning, Mrs. McGonagall," we beamed back in unison.

We were at our second lesson of the day, and I was face-to-face with our new spells teacher, Mrs. McGonagall. She had crisp, wispy hair done up in an untidy bun, and a few wrinkles on her face. But she did not show the same expression that Snape had. Her face was proud of us, welcoming and warm, and I could tell that she wanted us to have a wonderful year at Hogwarts.

Mrs. McGonagall ran a hand through her sparse silvery hair and announced, "Today we will be learning about spells. As you probably all know, there are two types of spells – Defence against the Dark Arts spells, and Transfiguration spells. I am your teacher for Transfiguration. Now, who can tell me what a spell is?"

"_How are we supposed to have the right answer to that? There are, like, millions of right answers!" _I exclaimed softly to Pamella.

"_Don't worry, Valerie. We won't get expelled for not being the smartest in our class,"_ she replied warmly.

"_Valerina, if you please," _I whispered back firmly.

A girl in the back raised her hand. It was the same girl who had explained the cleaning potion in Snape's room.

"Ah, Miss Rowena, named after the founder of Ravenclaw herself. What is a spell?" Mrs McGonagall questioned patiently.

"A spell is a magical commandment that is preformed with the voice command and the movements of the wand. There are six wand movements – swish, flick, raise, point, whoosh and slash. They are usually in Latin, and normally less than four words," Rowena gloated lightly.

My fists tightened.

"Oh, whatever your name is, in the front – with the red hair," a girl in the second row called to me. "Don't get angry. All she did was answer a question."

She was right, after all. All the girl had done was tell Mrs. McGonagall the answer. My fists loosened and I felt the anger in me being washed away with a spray of pureness. It felt like a splash of cool water. I realized that if I had answered the question, I wouldn't want everybody angry with me.

"Very good," Mrs. McGonagall commented. "Now, Ravenclaw, I would like you to look up _spells _in your books and read out all the information you find."

We did a lot of work, and already I was bursting with the wonderful feeling of knowledge and the spirit of learning. Nothing in the world could make me happier. I was satisfied with it all – Pamella, Hogwarts, Ravenclaw. This would be a terrific year!

***

Lunch was another feast to celebrate being a student of Hogwarts. We all sat in our tables and chattered noisily about our first two classes – because everybody had only gone to two classes – while the Great Hall buzzed noisily with conversation and color. We were all wearing our scarves and ties, which were the color of our houses, and our black robes with Hogwarts symbols on them.

There were tall glass pitchers of pumpkin juice and iced cherry drink to gulp down as often as we liked, all sorts of chewy worm-shaped gummies, chocolate frogs, and lemon swirl lollipops. There were juicy, cone-shaped, fruity candies covered in vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles, crabapples, and elaborate chocolate cakes with strawberries. Each table was loaded with baskets of food and decorative centerpieces with touches of nature – pinecones, twigs and leaves from the forested valleys and mountains around Hogwarts.

Dumbledore's loud, ringing call echoed and bounced off the ceiling as he began a speech. "Throughout the year, all four houses will compete for the House Cup. Your triumphs will earn you points; your failures or rule breaking will make your house lose points. At the end of the year, we will count up each house's points to see who wins the House Cup. Let's see who will win this year. Good luck to all of you, and have a wonderful school year in your house."

My heart thumped with excitement. Ravenclaw had some pretty good students who studied hard and paid a lot of attention in class. We gained a good chance against all the other houses.

I glanced curiously over to Pamella and asked her, "Do you think we'll win?"

"Dunno," Pamella answered lightly. "You're my true friend, and we're sure to win with you in our house. You already filled thirty pages of your notebook with information, and you're already finished those potion worksheets."

Although Pamella was my friend, I was disappointed with her loving but awkward answer. "Who do _you _think will win?"

"Dunno," Pamella told me again, calmly licking cake off her fingers. "Slytherin's won for ten years in a row, and Gryffindor eight years. Everybody thinks those houses are the best, but I'm different. I think you should judge a house by the behaviour of its students, not the amount of years they've won. Out of the 1,000 years Hogwarts has been around, Ravenclaw's only won 465. Hufflepuff never won very often. Oh, I've never felt sorry for anybody more than I did for those Hufflepuffs. I think Hufflepuff is a wonderful house, and I hope it wins this year – well, I hope _we _win, too."

I felt a flush of distraught sorrow as I looked over at the Hufflepuff table to see Velma and Ginny copying down spells and the ingredients to hard potions. Even though the tests were months away, our family started studying on the first day of classes. We tried so hard.

"Good luck," Pamella offered.

"Good luck," I offered.

Was Ravenclaw to win? With us working together as a team, we could beat the unbeatable…


	4. Excessive Studying & Madame Broom?

_Of Shortcuts, Excessive Studying, and 'Madame Broome'…?_

OR, Riding Broomsticks

_**A/N **_**I know there really isn't much of a plot yet, this is still the 'diary' phase of the story. It starts getting to a plot pretty soon. **

Hogwarts is a very exciting and interesting place. It is full of passageways, staircases and statues that help you mark your way through the school. Just as Katie Bell said, it takes you ages and ages to get used to all these corridors and hallways! There are at least seven floors and, like, seven hundred staircases leading up to each one, and a million rooms and offices, the whereabouts of which you have to remember. We have tons of classes and everyday we get a schedule reminding us what classes we have.

Pamella and I always walk to classes together. Each passageway and corridor has a statue that marks it, so you know where you're going. But there are so many winding hallways that are shortcuts, and Pamella advises me to take them, and then they lead to more shortcuts and more shortcuts until you find yourself right where you ended up! "I guess I have more to learn about those shortcuts," Pamella would groan whenever we were late for class.

Many first years actually did eng up being late for classes, for various reasons. Firstly, there are lots of winding passageways, and there are many reasons you might take them. Lots of little first years think they're shortcuts or cooler passageways, when they really might not be. Lots of kids travel in groups, which is a good idea, because a big group might have lots of ideas about where to go? But what if none of those ideas are right? Hogwarts really is confusing.

You could get lost in the many tunnels. Sometimes, on the staircases, there is a step so many steps up or down that you have to remember to jump because it keeps appearing and disappearing. Some of the statues move, and the more troublesome ones might pull you hair or make you drop your books, while a few kindly ones prefer to help you out by pointing your way to the classroom. Sometimes I'd rather the statues _didn't _move. The wizard statue in the corner of the corridor leading to Snape's room often points out the _wrong _way to go.

Of course there are the ghosts. There are ghosts flying all around Hogwarts, friendly ones of course, who swoop and slide in the hallways and float through walls. They're never in the way or anything, and never a creepy sight because they're so common, but when happy ghosts give you a rewarding pat on the back or shake your hand, it sends a shiver through your whole body and makes you feel like you've suddenly been placed in Antarctica. And sometimes it gives you a little shiver when one floats placidly through the door you were about to open.

Worse than the ghosts is the caretaker, Argus Filch. He's very nosey and suspicious, with his narrow, slit-like eyes and slimy yellow teeth. His skin is all stretched over his head, making him look boney and skinny. With him is his cat, Mrs. Norris, a messy-furred feline with one blue eye and one red eye. I think her blue eye is pretty, but when you're late for class and you see her red eye peering out of a shadow at you, a shiver goes up your spine. Mrs. Norris means Filch is nearby, and he's strict and grumpy and loves to give students who are late for class or even break the slightest rule detention.

So any of those are reasons you might be late for class.

Getting to class is really the hardest part for Pamella and I, because we think most classes are fun and exciting. It's cool to learn so much, to answer questions correctly and get points for your house, and even to write two-page essays for homework.

As well as Snape's potions and Mrs. McGonagall's spells, there are Charms, Herbology, Defence against the Dark Arts, Fantastic Beasts, Astronomy and History of Magic. Our charm lessons are fun and bright, because they take place in a wide, airy room with mosaic stain glass windows yielding to the glassy, shimmering lake that surrounds Hogwarts. Our teacher, Professor Flitwick, is so short that he needs to stand on a pile of books to see over his own desk! It's sometimes so funny when Professor Flitwick asks Dianne for one of her own books so he can make his pile bigger, or he wobbles so and nearly falls over, that Pamella and I laugh in the hallways about it.

On Fridays, Mondays and Tuesdays, we go down the staircases and passageways to the Far East side of the school and into the long rows of greenhouses. It's not like other lessons, how you have to sit still and write things down. You have to stand in two long rows, boys on one side and girls on the other, and listen to our teacher, Professor Sprout, talk to us about magical plants, how to take care of them, and what we get from them. Then we have to care for, harvest, and pluck fruits from the magical plants.

On Wednesday nights at 10:00 we go up to the tallest tower and study the stars and planets through our telescopes, learning to read fortunes in the constellations.

Everybody was really excited about Defence against the Dark Arts. That's where we learn violent spells that defend us against beasts, monsters and bad spells. But when we finally marched in two straight lines into the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom, we were very discouraged. Our teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, was a famous vain book writer who carried on and on gloating about all the exciting things he had done and everything he had written about; about how he used garlic to fend off vampires and had once been trapped in a telephone booth by a werewolf. Yet no matter how much he blabbered about all the spells and things he had used, Lockhart didn't teach us anything, even about what a Defence against the Dark Arts spell was. When we left our first Defence against the Dark Arts lesson, Pamella whispered to me in the hallways, "Well, I wouldn't know what to do if I was trapped in a telephone booth by a werewolf. Know why? Because the very person who _had _been trapped by a werewolf never taught me what to do!"

***

It's day four already! Oh, how time does fly! I'm growing into Ravenclaw spirit: I cheer for us when I wake up, and all through the day we're gaining points. So far Ravenclaw has _50 _points, ten gained in Herbology class, ten gained in Professor Snape's class, and ten gained in our studying time for being useful of our studying time. Then, then were gained in Snape's class again, and ten in Mrs. McGonagall's class. I hope Ravenclaw wins. We're working so hard to win, being attentive in class, and never wasting time.

Even though the exams are months and months away, at the end of the year, I've formed an early homework club, for anyone, I say, who wants to pass their exams. Of course everyone joined, so you could say it's not a club; it's all of Ravenclaw. We help each other finish our homework, show it off so the others might learn what we did, and write down anything we learned. Then we study. We've already got fifty points for studying hard.

***  
"It's broomstick riding time!" Pamella cheered enthusiastically during studying time one day. Her loud shriek of delight broke the silence in the common room, and suddenly all the Ravenclaw students realized it was their first broom-riding class and burst into a wild applause. Students screamed and ran around the room, pretending to be riding a broomstick. A girl with two yellowish-red pigtails who was not much older than me just jumped up and down and hugged me. I realized she was Veronika Tresant, whom I had sat beside in the Great Hall once and shared my candy with. She was beginning to be my friend, alongside Pamella.

We just went hysteric, struck by excitement. Broomstick riding was said to be the most wonderful, triumphant, heavenly thing ever to do in Hogwarts – because the best of the best riders got to be on the Quidditch team! I didn't know much at all about Quidditch, only that Veronika had told me it was a broomstick-riding game, and Pamella told me it was "the best thing ever – excellent!" But of course, you had to learn to ride broomsticks first. My heart flamed with blazing thrill and a flow of cool enthusiasm flushed through me like a fast-moving river.

Kalinka Wispan lined up the wriggling first-years, including Veronika, Pamella and I, and we paraded out of the common room, through the halls and passageways, down staircases, and finally into the large outdoor field used for broomstick riding practices. Usually there were always students walking through it, but today it was all cleared up for our first flying lesson.

We lined up in long rows with our standard-sized brooms lying beside ups. The broomstick riding teacher, Madame Hooch, walked impatiently between us. Her echoing call was thunderous and jolly, bounding through the yard.

"Good morning, Ravenclaw, and welcome to your first flying lesson! Well, what are you waiting for? Take your left hand and hold it out over your broom. Say, 'UP.' And don't forget to speak very, very clearly!" she exclaimed bossily.

I held out my hand just as I was told. "Up!" I shouted.

On the ground, my broom began to stir. I was shocked! These brooms were alive – well, automatic, at least! They could fly by themselves, without the control of a rider!

All around me, voices were shouting, "up!" Brooms sliced through the air and landed in their owners' clutches. I focused harder. "Up. UP. _UP," _I called, getting a little impatient with my broom.

Suddenly it whizzed up in a streaking flash. But, oh no, I wouldn't let it hit me in the face! I gained control of it, grabbing tightly. I wouldn't let it get out of my hold.

"Now, hold your broom, grip it tight, and mount it. Make sure you have a stable, secure, safe seat on your broom. And don't forget to hold on extremely tightly. Last year a Slytherin went spinning off his broom and fell through an open window, so we don't want another accident," Madame Hooch explained loudly, her booming voice bounding off the school walls.

"Good luck. I know you'll do well – much better than that Slytherin last year," Veronika commented, hopefully, kindly.

"Same to you," I wished for her.

We held onto our brooms. I suddenly realized that when I had thought about it before, broomstick riding seemed like a wonderful big game. But now, I had to face something more terrifying than anything yet. This wasn't sitting in a desk doing spells. I was riding a wild broomstick. Could I gain enough control over it so that I could ride it without it carrying me off? My teeth clenched tightly and sweat trickled from my wet hands. I was so nervous that my heart pounded like a hammer.

"Just say 'up' and kick your left leg against the ground, and you'll feel yourself rising. When that happens, lean forward, put your feet up against the bristles of the broom, and begin to fly. Remember to steer correctly. This is a day worth remembering," was Madame Broome's last remark before we took to the air.

"Up!" I yelled firmly, and with a spark of confidence growing until it flamed inside of me, I stamped firmly on the ground, and …

… I felt myself rising off the ground. My feet were dangling in the air. My eyes still squeezed shut, so that they moistened under my eyelids, I tucked my feet against the bristles.

Higher I rose. Air whizzed by. My heart plummeted as I sliced through the winds. I had to open my eyes.

The first thing I saw was the ground slipping below me. I felt airy and light, bouncy, peaceful and free. The great blue sky was a dome that spread around me forever until it kissed the horizon and slipped under it. _I was flying!_

I quickly learned how to steer and turn, and that helped me gain control. Instead of flying where it wanted to go, the broom had to go along with me because I knew how to move swiftly through the air so it could not get away. I saw Pamella whooshing up beside me. We were doing a wonderful job, steering and flying smoothly. Our brooms gave up the temptation to break loose simply because we could control them. We practiced ducking, swerving and making sharp turns.

Madame Broome called out orders to us. "Now everybody, split into two teams, each with ten children. Hover in lines on opposite sides of the field. You must try to fly to the other team's side without getting tagged, losing control of your broom, or falling off. Remember, no sharp pushing or punching, and the first team to get to the other side wins. This is not a championship game, only a practice."

Veronika grabbed me, and I grabbed Pamella, and we all flew to the right side of the yard facing our rivals. I concentrated hard, holding onto my broom and leaning forward, prepared and ready.

Madame Broome blew her shiny silver whistle.

Each team swooped into action. I took off across the field, determined to reach the other side quickly. Crouching down, I picked up speed and darted forward like a bumblebee.

A member of the opposite team swerved in beside me, and a flush of panic shot me like an arrow. Hesitating, I dove helplessly to one side; fortunately, by broom swung in the other player's direction and she could not follow me quickly enough. When she dove into pursuit, I was already too far away for her to go on chasing me.

I knew I had escaped this girl, but I stayed attentive. Other players hurled themselves at me from the right and left; I ducked and then turned sharply to the other side and tagged one of them out, then the other. Then I continued on my race.

The two teams were pulling away from each other, and if you had looked at us from above it would look like there was a magnetic field pulling us to our destinations. I didn't have to look back to see that the other team was far ahead of us, and that Pamella had been driven out of control and fallen off her broom. But it was not a severe accident. She swung onto her broom and slashed into the air.

Winds pulled by on either side of me, and I could hardly see what was going on, the only thing on my mind being getting to the other side. I had to veer from a few rival players, but other from that I kept flying straight. Suddenly – SMASH! I crashed painfully into the other side! Pain burned like red-hot fury on my shoulders, wrists and elbows, but I was still on my broom, sweating and gasping for breath from the exciting event. Practice, Madame Hooch had called it! If this was a practice, imagine Quidditch!

Several cheers rose up from my team, and I triumphantly realized – we had won! In fact, as I was shaking hands with Pamella and Veronika, I realized that, in the excitement, I had forgotten both teams were of Ravenclaw. I had been so determined to win – which I had – that I had thought we were different houses and would always be rivals. But we were the same house.

"What a lesson!" I exclaimed to Pamella as we were walking back to the common room.

"All that excitement had knocked my breath right out so it seemed I was trapped in a dream – but that was real!" she laughed enthusiastically.

"That must have been the scariest thing in my life," I gasped, "Because I never really had many adventures. But what I do know is that it was the most fun thing ever!"

What I didn't know was that I would have to face the most horrendous, dangerous adventure anybody ever could – _and it wasn't just a broomstick practice_.

_**A/N **_***Gasp!* What lies in store for Valerina? You'll just have to read on to find out ******


	5. Spiders, Lame Insults & Giant Cups

_Of Giant Spiders, Lame Insults, and Giant Cups _

OR, Giant Spider Attack

_**A/N**_**:**__**Yes, you guessed it – even more blatant copying from Harry Potter. Combine the disastrous Cornish Pixie episode with Harry and Ron's trip into the Forbidden Forest and you've got the gist of this chapter. I apologize for the lamentably bad insults later in this chapter; I couldn't bring myself to even use the words 'stupid,' 'moron,' or 'idiot,' when I was 9 or so. Furthermore, I have no idea why she constantly calls her teacher by his first name. I, Obiwanlivesforever, am not responsible for any brain damage that occurs from the stupidity of this chapter. Read at your own peril! **

September 10th, 1:00 pm

Today, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin are going to Gilderoy Lockhart's classroom to learn together. Gilderoy is our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Defence against the Dark Arts is basically learning how to defend yourself against dark spells, wizards, or monstrous animals and plants. **(A/N: I know I explained this in an earlier chapter, but I had a short attention span when I was 9.) **It's just after lunch, and this is our third Defence against the Dark Arts class in the year. Today, I'm wriggling with excitement from the tips of my toes to my silky red hair. This will be our first lesson in which we actually learn a spell. Before, we were focusing on what a Defence Against the Dark Arts spell is, who discovered them, and why they were made. Now, even as I'm sitting by Veronika, I can't help my heart from flaming with impatience.

Gilderoy Lockhart marched vainly into the room. I rolled my eyes. Gilderoy Lockhart always thought he's the best teacher ever, but I wasn't very sure.

"Today, we will focus on what we have learned – a Defence against the Dark Arts spell is a spell that can defend you from danger. Now, we should all remember our defence spells, and it is your job to arm yourselves against the foulest creatures known to mankind," he explained darkly and mysteriously.

My heart began to thump. A nervous feeling fell over my body as I fearfully looked at a small cage with a cover over it. It shook and trembled, and I worriedly realized that there was something inside – and it wanted to get out. These must be the foul creatures Gilderoy told us about.

Enthusiastically, Gilderoy whisked the cover off the cage. My heart sank in somewhat disappointed relief. I had been excited as well as afraid. But these tiny creatures were merely hairy tarantulas with creeping legs and snapping jaws, and I knew I could send them away in less than a second with the spells I had learned.

"Tarantulas!" exclaimed Chevvile Finnigan from Slytherin.

"Freshly caught tarantulas," Gilderoy snapped back. "And watch out. These tarantulas can be menacingly tricky. Let's see what you make of them!" And he bravely whisked open the cage door.

We sat, somewhat disappointed, in our chairs, watching the spiders scuttle around. One leapt on my leg, and I shouted with a swish of my wand, "Winguardium Leviosa!" Instantly the spider began to float into the air, legs wriggling and thrashing. Here and there the skittering of spiders' legs could be heard, and then a spider would come too close and some kid would do a spell – POOF! It actually wasn't what I had expected, and I was very disappointed.

"I told you, the spiders can be tricky! Sinister spiders, grow! Now let's see what you make of them!" Gilderoy hollered, waved his wand, and rushed away, capes flapping. "Can you just get the rest of them – back – in their – cage? I put a spell on them so they can't kill you, but – you might get severely hurt – who knows what might happen?" he laughed. Well, he was actually whimpering and scared, but he tried to hide it up with a couple of coughing, heavy chuckles.

Immediately, there was a streak of light and the room began to shake with an incredible tremor, and light shimmered through the spiders until they were luminous, 3D outlines. Screaming, I rushed for the door, my heart wrapped with terror. My body was gripped with the confusing trap of fear. I wanted to get out of here before the worst happened, but somehow, like the others, I was so scared I just stood there and watched what was happening.

The spiders were doubling in size right before our very eyes. It was all flashing by so quickly as the spiders rumbled up into a horrendous size! Horribly hairy, terribly scary, awesomely bumpy, razor-sharp spine-splattered bulk loomed and towered above us like storm clouds. My heart plummeted. All hulk and mass, the massive beasts tore towards us, powerfully rippling towards us, their legs whirring incredibly fast! Ear-splitting shrieks shattered the air and children scattered, grabbing wands and books, anything to throw at the spiders. I glanced desperately around, darting to one side as a spider's needle-sharp jaws snapped at me. Gasping for breath, my heart burning with terror, I raced vigorously towards the high teacher's platform.

We couldn't stay hidden for long, I knew! The enormous, tangled mess of spiders ripped towards us like a stampede of elephants. Two skinny, grasping legs reached up for us, frothing and throbbing wildly. We screamed in unison, throwing large framed pictures at the spiders. I knew that our shelter wouldn't be safe for long. The more pictures we threw, the more determined the gigantic beasts got. Our hearts blazed as the spider slowly crept up the stairs, coming straight for us. With a growling roar, it spun a sticky thread and whisked it at some of the girls and boys crouching in a corner. They leapt for cover, but wild screeches rang up from them and echoed across the whole room as the web enrobed them.

Flaming hotly, I blasted like a fiery comet towards the children sheltered under he web. I realized, horrified, that one of them was Pamella – and then, even more excitedly, that one was Dianne! If I saved Dianne, she might not bully me anymore!

"Don't worry!" I cried to the people under the web. "Gilderoy jinxed them, remember!"

"Gilderoy can't even do a spell! Trust _him? I saw him catching the spiders and putting them in the cage, _before class, and he didn't do one spell!" screeched a Gryffindor boy under the web.

Violently, the spiders threw themselves towards us, sending more children leaping, climbing bookcases and sliding down banisters, using every wild attempt to escape the beasts. But I saw there was no escape. It was too late – a spider had blocked the doorway! Fearfully, I saw all we could do was kill the spiders or be killed ourselves.

"How could Gilderoy do this to _us?" _I shrieked over the expanding racket, but my voice only mixed in with all the other voices. Bending down to tackle the web, I began to hurry. The spider who had thrown it was coming closer.

"Do something!" screeched Pamella at the top of her lungs.

Diane punched and yelled at me: "Get us out of here, you crazy, weird, filthy bum! I could do this better than you!"** (A/N: See what I mean about the pathetic insults? Don't say I didn't warn you…)**

But I paid no attention to her and my hands swirled vigorously and desperately over the sticky web. The spider was advancing closer, rising up on its back legs until its shadow cloaked us in darkness. The people under the web fell dead silent, and their faces whitened. But I was no coward! There was no fate worse than death, and I was not going to give myself up like some foolish little toddler. Hands trembling, I pointed my wand, but my fingers gripped it so loosely I could hardly do a spell. I was almost too afraid to do a spell, but I managed to whisper so quietly I could hardly hear my own words, "Winguardium Leviosa!"

The beast shot up to the ceiling. Although it could still thrash around and wave its grabby legs, it could not attack us when it was all the way up there.

"Bad move, toilet brain!" shouted Diane. "Once the spiders are through with you'll see that some wizarding families are better than others!" **(A/N: I am officially disgusted with this. I just couldn't resist sticking in a line of Malfoy's, despite the fact that it makes no sense within the context.) **

She was right! This made the other spiders madder still. I knew I didn't have much time to untangle the web until the other spiders noticed what I was doing! Suddenly, I knew what to do – if I could do it quickly! Gilderoy Lockhart's display sword was lying on the ground! It wasn't sharp enough to pierce with a spout of blood through the spiders' rock-hard armour, but it could easily slice open the web! I slashed through the web, hacking away at the tough parts, and the children trapped under it leapt free and rushed on to brave the spiders.

"Well, that was smart – for once," snickered Diane sarcastically as she brushed past me with a little smack. I clenched my hands tightly until the knuckles were capped with white. I had saved her and she wasn't even grateful! Oh, I would show her!

This was no time to be angry! I grabbed my wand and skipped around, distracting ten spiders. They rippled viciously after me, not seeing my wand and thinking I was unaware of them. When it was too late, I whisked to face the spiders and yelled out another spell. "Velleycay Incantarto!" I screeched. The spiders exploded with an enormous blast of exoskeleton.

"One hundred and ninety left!" Pamella wailed triumphantly, waving and twirling her wand in confidence. She swished and pointed her wand, hollering, "Velleycay Incantarto!" Instantly, many spiders EXPLODED!

A poof of smoke flew and whirled and a comet sneezed as the spiders disappeared. Now, more kids were coming to their common sense, and instead of trying to hide from the spiders like sobbing cowards **(A/N: So now it's somehow cowardly for nine-year olds to be afraid of massive arachnids?) **they were facing them with tricks and spells. The terrified screams had faded out like a flame on a candle being blown at, and more triumphant calls were coming out.

"Where's that dratted little spider running around?"

"One hundred seventy left!"

"You take that side and I'll take this side!"

"Try that spell you learned in Mrs. McGonagall's class!"

"Where's Brittany?"

"How 'bout we climb up on the bookcase and drop that statue on the spider?"

"Great! Then you do _'arronya excivate'_ on it so it flies out the windows!"

"Here I am, Rowena!"

"One hundred twenty left!"

"Got my wand!"

"_Velleycay Incantarto!"_

"1, 2, 3, _Fereverto!_ – hey, there's a giant cup where the spider used to be!"

**(A/N: In case some of you didn't understand that last one, it was a spell from the Chamber of Secrets film that turns animals into goblets.)**

"One hundred left!" cheered all of Ravenclaw when Brittany Hunter and Rowena Waterspout had sent a spider flying into the boat. Slytherin, on the other hand, was just running around and yelling for help. _We _were helping _them, _sure!

We destroyed many spiders one by one, until suddenly only one remained – the biggest. My face was barred with bloody red streaks that stung as if a knife had been driven into me, and sweat trickled from under our capes, oozing, gushing and lapping. My whole body ached and burst with pain, and my knuckles were tense. I felt like I was crumbling into tiny pieces. But others were also very hurt or tired or scared, and I found that I must face the biggest.

With all the energy I had left, I flashed over to the beast. It seemed like there was nothing left I could do. It, on the other hand, had no scars, bruises, or weak spots, and was rearing on its back legs, ready to throw a web on me. Veronika, Pamella and another girl rushed over to my side and pointed their wands as well.

We cried weakly and in unison, "_Velleycay, Incantarto!"_

Luckily, the spell was enough to kill the giant beast – because it came from four students instead of one. Amidst all the pain, I could feel a little relief and triumph rising inside me. We had made it!

As we slunk, hearts still racing, out of Gilderoy Lockhart's room and towards Professor Snape's Potion lessons, I saw Professor Kettleburn, our teacher for Identification of Fantastic Beasts, running quickly through the hallways. He flew through a door and I heard him mumbling inside.

"I wonder what he's doing?" I murmured to Pamella.

"Don't know," she whispered back softly. Still, I was a little suspicious about what he had just done.

That was definitely the scariest thing that had happened to me – scarier than being sorted and even scarier than the broomstick riding game. But I felt a happy, secure feeling that meant I had made it. My new friends and I had overcome this challenge _together – _and that made me even more joyful.

***

"I don't know why Gilderoy Lockhart tried to _kill _us!" scowled Veronika to Pamella and I in the common room. We were studying and writing down information, and also finishing our potions homework. She had been making fists and shrieking about the accident all the way back to the common room, and I tried to ignore her, but the same question still rung in _my _head.

I sucked the end of my feather pen, making the fronds plaster together as I stared down at my next question. Honestly, we were only in about day ten, and already Professor Snape expected us to be … geniuses! I didn't want to ask Pamella for help, because this homework helped on our tests, and if we didn't pass the end of the year tests, which took place in June (it's September, and we're already studying!) we would have to do our first year over again, but we wouldn't be getting sorted again. Every year we would always be in the same house, so I was always a Ravenclaw.

I sighed thoughtfully as I stared at the question, then scribbled down my best answer:

_Who discovered Potions, and in what year?_

_Marvin Maurice Dumbledore, in 30 BC_

Phew! I rubbed my sweaty forehead as a sign of relief. The next questions were very easy. I decided to put them away and do some research, practice my spells, and try to answer Veronika's question, which she had scowled again.

"Veronika, er … um..."

"Veronika, stop worrying!" shouted an irritated voice from the edge of the common room, and I realized it was second-year Katie Bell, the same blonde girl who had told me about getting used to passageways. "We all know that Gilderoy Lockhart cursed the spiders so they couldn't kill us, only hurt us. The worst that could have happened is the spiders knocking us out, and the nurse, Madame Pomfrey, can refocus unconscious people in less than a split second, Veronika."

Veronika looked redder than my hair.


	6. Bradleys and the Return of Madame Broom

_Of Multiple Bradleys and the Return of Madame Broome _

OR, Failed the Team!

_**A/N**_**: Just to let you know, when I wrote this I completely disregarded the rule of first-years not being allowed on teams, and for some odd reason, made the first-years' ages vary from nine to twelve. **

September 13th, 2:10 PM

"It's a new spell I've learned from my big brother Maurice," Pamella explained to me in the Great Hall at Ravenclaw table. We were eating a late lunch of sandwiches, chocolate lollipops, and crabapples, which were as crisp as a fresh fall day, and Pamella was dying to show me her new spell that her 16-year old brother had taught her.

I stared excitedly at a small mouse Pamella had put on the table. It squirmed and whimpered, wondering where it was.

"It's Maurice's mouse," she beamed proudly, holding out her wand. "Imo"-

Suddenly, a fifteen year old boy pushed his way through the crowds from the far end of Ravenclaw table, shouting "Make way! Move it! Where's Valerina Tristont?"

"Hey, what does _he _want with _you?" _Pamella asked. I swallowed hard.

"I don't know," I whispered confusedly.

"Valerina!" he boomed, "Come with me. I need to show you something. I'm Bradley Labont."

I stared at him, astonished.

Bradley was a tall boy for his age, serious-looking and slender, with rosy red cheeks that looked like they were splattered with red paint, and stringy, bushy blonde hair that shot out all around his head like straw zinging out of a scarecrow.

So, I waved to Pamella, who frowned disappointedly and sighed, then waved back. I left my comfortable, warm seat and followed him down the noisy, crowded aisle. The blurring, crashing racket poured rapidly into my aching ears as I scrambled after Bradley. Through the winding hall, down moving staircases, I tagged along, my legs aching. When it seemed like we would have to walk for miles, we reached a small, still room with nine desks and dust floating in through the sunny windows. A few Ravenclaw children sat in the desks – and I recognized Veronika!

Ignoring and forgetting Bradley, I rushed over to my friend. My feet clattered joyfully on the floorboards as I pulled into a seat beside Veronika. She announced joyfully, "You made the team!"

"What _team?" _I questioned. Now I was really puzzled, but I had no answer from her.

Bradley stood in front of the desks, raised his hands and exclaimed loudly, "WELCOME." His voice was so booming and confident that I was startled. Bradley Labont had seemed such a quiet boy.

He continued in a voice that seemed to surround us, "Welcome to the team! We all know that over the past few days, our beloved Madame Broome, professor of broomstick riding here at Hogwarts, has chosen the best of the best riders to be the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. I will explain the game momentarily."

My heart thumped against my sides. I drew in my breath, and then blew it out. The word Quidditch gave me a lovely, mystical feeling and it rang through my head ever since Bradley had said it. So this was the wonderful game Veronika and Pamella were always talking about. So I listened – ears open!

"Quidditch is a game where we ride our brooms around in a large, grassy field a little like the one where we have been practicing broom riding lessons. It is a game that can be played with two teams. You must have excellent posture and have supreme balance. Each team has seven players."

"We're the Ravenclaw Quidditch team," Bradley explained proudly. My face beamed like the sun as if it had emerged from a cloud, and my heart was just as high. I was a Quidditch player!

"Here's our superb team," beamed a gleaming-faced Bradley. A toothy grin lit up his face, stretching from ear to ear. "Veronika Tresant, Sadia Mueslin, Brandee Tresant, Alicia McTamble, Bradley Tamble, Katie Bell, and myself! Seven players!"

A cold unhappiness seized me and my hope slid out of me like a bar of soap. I was as deserted as an old ruin. I hadn't been mentioned!

"B-Bradley," I sputtered timidly, "I'm really sorry, but our team has _eight _players. You forgot me."

"Well, you've got good skills and good style with your broom, so I thought you should have been mentioned, but you're too young. All Quidditch players must be ten or over. So I thought you might have the job of teaching the children not on the team – I mean the other first-years who haven't gotten on the team – some tricks and skills that might help them fly better. I hope that's okay with you," Bradley stammered uneasily.

I just couldn't believe it! All my hopes of flying through the air, full of triumph and team spirit, had fallen down to teaching little children how to hover! Everyone knew how to hover. It was the first thing we ever learned how to do!

"Will I still be on the team?" I cried furiously.

Bradley sighed and rolled his eyes. "I told you, Tristont. No. Quidditch has nothing to do with teaching first years flying lessons. Now, I'll explain the game."

I was so disappointed! I shouldn't even have to stay here and listen to the game if I wasn't going to play it! Oh, why couldn't I be ten?


	7. Broken Windows, Cauldrons & Premonitions

_Of Broken Windows, Stolen Cauldrons and Premonitions. _

OR, Rumors and Ravens pt. 1

**A/N: The plot starts to speed up in this chapter. Thanks to readers who have been patient enough to stick with this train wreck of a story up until this point! As usual, read, review and enjoy!**

September 19th, 1:30 pm

"I wish you were on the Quidditch team," whispered Veronika to me. "You _should _be. I can't _believe _that Bradley Labont!"

"It's okay. Thank you," I sighed. It wasn't okay. Even with my friends here, nothing could be more disappointing than not being on the team. I was just being nice to Veronika.

Have you ever failed an important test? Did you feel awful? That's exactly how I felt. I hadn't failed a test, but I had failed a team – the team of the most exciting and fun game ever.

"I feel so sorry for you," sobbed Veronika, kindly. "I would give up my spot on the team for you."

"That wouldn't be fair. Besides, it's not that I'm not on the team because there are too many players, but because I'm too young," I told her.

"Don't be so sad. You _should _be on the team. You're so good at it," Pamella assured. Suddenly her eyes lit up with joy. Radiance and delight danced over her shining face. "You're so _good _at it! Next time you do that teaching stuff, let Bradley see you! He'll see how good you are, and then he'll make a second spot on the team for you!"

My heart lit up. My dream was rising from the ashes of failure! I could be a Quidditch player, if I tried. But, I'd have to convince that Bradley first.

Most of the students did not make it any better, with some Slytherins deliberately making it worse. I couldn't get to class without Slytherins slouching away, or Diane and her friends Lavender and Parvati popping up everywhere and trying to trip me so she could say, "Boy, she'd make a failure of herself on that team or not," and run away tittering. But my friends were no fools.

They walked with me from every single class to the common room, and assured me that I was good (I'm not even _on _the Quidditch team, Pamella said) and told me that they would give Bradley Labont a piece of their minds.

When the Slytherins attacked, saying, "Don't worry; it takes _skill _to be on a Quidditch team – _which you DON'T have, _since you'll die in less than a second out there. It's the bleak fate of a failure who tries to get on the team," and batting their eyes innocently, Pamella, Veronika, her friend Sadia, and commonly Pamella's little sister Pansy, would stay by my side and glare angrily, muttering "_back off,"_ under their breaths, to show them that I had good friends too. Then Diane, Parvati and Lavender would run around us, capes trailing, daring us to start something with their sneers and cruel hisses, and looking more powerful every moment. It was annoying, really, to be lost in a funnel of Parvati's whipping tubes of separated blackish hair, and Lavender's ugly brown snarls and wisps, and Diane's glossy, striking mass of rippling streaks, drowned by jeers and name calling. But we would walk away from them, not taking this seriously, maybe catching them by their capes to teach them to stay away from us or face being the lowest students in the school.

The older Slytherin students veered away from me and whispered mysteriously, "She's that weird kid who got knocked off the Quidditch team," or, "Honestly, I didn't even know Ravenclaw _had _a Quidditch team, they're such awful fliers. She must be _really _bad," or even, "They'd lose every game with that kid on the team." The younger students, first years and second years, including Diane, took it by teasing me. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who weren't even on the Slytherin Quidditch team after all, kept popping up in the corridors and running around me, pretending to be playing Quidditch, then trying to knock me off an imaginary broom. My friends stood up for me, but that didn't make much of a difference. All the Slytherins called me "The Failure," and once Veronika and Pamella yelled at Parvati Patil after she called me,

"_Loser, goner, that's what's on her,_

_Oh, I meant in her, she's much thinner_

_Than a broomstick; she's a lose stick_

_Loser, failure, Valerina!" _

**(A/N: I am not responsible for any mental damage, strokes, etc. caused by reading that horrendously bad poem. I was nine, I tell you, nine!)**

But I had friends too. Let's see – my enemies were:

Superstar Quidditch chaser Andrea Pucey

Whoopie Rockslab, a hard-faced Slytherin sixth-year who commentates on every Quidditch match and promises to say how horrible I am if I ever get onto the team and play a game.

Boastini Zamboni, Whoopie's friend

The rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team

Jade and Millicent Bullstroad, Diane's two friends

Pipi Patil and Parvati Patil, two twin sisters who are Diane's other friends

Lavender brown, a messy-haired girl who so many knots she has a big brown puff of hair. She's also Diane's friend.

Worst of all, Diane Madeline Prompton.

And my friends, who stood up for me when my enemies hurt me:

Pamella

Veronika

Sadia

Veronika's sisters Brandee and Chantelle

Pamella's sister, Pansy

The Ravenclaw Quidditch team

Well, practically everybody in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff **(A/N: *coughMarySuecough*)**

Presently, we were walking to our next class, Mrs. McGonagall's transfiguration class. On our daily schedules, it said we would be turning cups into eagles and back, and that we would be going with Slytherin.

As we walked up the elaborate shining staircases and scurried through the polished marble halls, a familiar figure slammed into us. It was that bratty Diane Prompton from Slytherin. Her steely black curls flounced as she walked steadily on ahead of us.

"Your house's points are going _down, _Tristont. You've got 225 because that bratty Marlena kid forgot her cauldron yesterday, and we've got 239. I didn't know that Ravenclaw would get any points. So it looks like you're not the big star around here any more! Ha, ha, ha!" she sneered to me.

My heart boiled with anger. I could not hold it in! "_Marlena forgot her very own cauldron yesterday because __some__ Slytherin hid it in the girl's bathroom!" _I roared.

"Oh, yes. That was fun," snapped Diane.

I bared my teeth in anger. Diane was the worst Slytherin girl imaginable. They were all pretty bratty, but _Diane! _She was completely unbearable, with her ugly crooked teeth and mocking brown eyes.

Diane began to laugh. Her laugh was the worst thing about her, a sort of cackle twisted into a mean guffaw of snooty pride. It was an ear-splitting racket to hear her laugh, and it usually meant she hated you.

"You can't be mad with me," she snickered, unhurt. "I can do a spell on you and you can't do anything, you bum of a wimpy Ravenclaw."

I felt a challenge rising inside of me. Getting ready for action, I whipped out my wand and pointed it at Diane.

Before anybody could do anything, Veronika grabbed my wand, and Pamella whispered, "Don't listen to her. _Just walk away."_

"You're right," I murmured. I slipped my wand back into my pocket and we continued down the decorative hall, with its spiralling staircases and golden statues. Diane followed us, annoyingly close. She looked so fierce and sharp-eyed that it seemed she was watching our every move, waiting impatiently for the next moment to strike.

What a pain she is! I thought.

As we continued on our way through the winding halls, we noticed Diane finally slinking off to join her friends, Jade and Millicent Bullstroad. I let out a breath of relief.

"Gee, Diane sure is nosy," Pamella sighed.

"Well, Slytherins will be Slytherins," Veronika reminded her. "Jade and Millicent are almost as bad. Listen – they're talking about us."

"Heard anything more about those wimpy Ravenclaws?" Diane asked her friends.

"Well, I never heard this, but I know – they're not capable of any spells, Diane," Millicent sneered, smirking.

"I heard that _all _the Parkinsons are in it. They're filthy, un-smart bumps on a log who deserve to be in such a silly house. They don't even have enough money to keep their scrap of a home, so they should clear out of Hogwarts," Jade snickered, and Millicent and Diane sniggered.

Beside me, I felt Pamella's fists tighten, and then she lurched forward in fury. "YOU LYING"- Pamella shrieked, and then she must have stopped for two reasons. One, she was embarrassed and everyone was staring at us, especially Diane and her friends. Plus, Mrs. McGonagall was there, glaring coldly at us with her icy stare.

"I trust you'll be off to class now, Miss Parkinson, but since I am not head of your house I cannot take away points for inappropriate behaviour in the halls."

Pamella opened her mouth to yell about Jade's insult, but then shut it and studied the carpet shamefully.

"I heard that there's a _Katrina Labont _in it. You know, Diane, that all the Labonts think they are bound for the Quidditch team, but you know how bad those brooms they ride are –the Shooting Stars," Millicent gloated smoothly, glaring at brown-haired Katrina Labont as she walked by with her friend, Kristen Parker. "Shooting Stars are a little bit of slime. She couldn't control her useless old broom … and it _fell through a window! Ha! _Ha, ha, ha!"

"Oooh, _poor _Katrina, _pooooor_ Katrina!" mocked the three Slytherins as they walked through another passageway. Their hoots and croons died away as their footsteps grew fainter. My head felt dizzy and hot from all their shrieking, high-pitched laughter, and my fists clenched. But behind my anger there was a white-hot feeling – fear. I had seen a Shooting Star fly, and I had seen Katrina fly, and the two of them together were perfect. Well – well, maybe Diane was just making it up. _But, _I thought, _Katrina was in the Hospital Wing a few days ago – and Madame Pomfrey said she had fallen through a window._

"You guys, isn't that weird, what Millicent said about Katrina Labont? She's a really good flier, _really _good. Doesn't it seem – strange – that Katrina would be the one falling off a broom?" I asked to my friends as we followed the Slytherins up the same passageway.

"Should have been Diane in Katrina's place," I heard Veronika muttering. I heard a flap of robes and saw Veronika's friend Sadia's scrunched up face. I knew that Sadia had gently knocked Veronika, but we all had to snort a little at Veronika's little joke. I didn't like Diane or any of her Slytherin friends one tiny little bit. (P.S. I think Sadia's starting to be one of my good friends too, and she's in Ravenclaw.)

When we reached the wide, airy room where Professor McGonagall taught, with its large, information-full blackboard, which had a spell on it so that it erased and wrote by itself, and floor-to-ceiling stain glass windows showing us a full view of the outside area, I couldn't help thinking of Katrina Labont smashing through them, shrieking as she tore through the needle-sharp glass … the window shattering all over the floor.

Suddenly, the classroom began to get faint and blurry. I could see, right before my eyes, the clouded image of my mind again. Only this time, it was Pamella on the broom … then again, and it was Veronika, and then Sadia, and then me. My horrified, but somehow slow and dreamy (or should it be nightmarey?) thoughts swirled around me. As I fell, I saw a large, blue shape soaring towards me, probably trying to catch me. Was it Pamella or another friend on a broomstick, wearing a Ravenclaw cloak? Or the kind and magical Dumbledore? Then, another shape, evil and sinister, crouching on the floor. It was ready to pounce. A werewolf? A boggart? Perhaps a basilisk?

The two objects ran towards me, my daydream visions growing thicker and more confusing, until I was lost in the middle. I couldn't see which object reached me first – the good blue shape or the evil, dark shape? No … no … everything was fading, all disappearing…

"Valerina Tristont! Get into your seat!"

It was Mrs. McGonagall, and in a whirl of light, I was back in the classroom. It seemed everything was friendly and normal – except a few sniggers from Diane, Millicent and Jade behind my back. But my heart still pounded and my stomach still flopped. My shaking legs could not find a steady balance on the stone floor.

"Oh, goodness sake, Valerina! What is the matter? This is the second time I've had to deal with you or your friend. I spoke to Madame Hooch, head of Ravenclaw house, and she agreed – ten points will be taken from Ravenclaw. Five for that outburst in the hallway" – "Parkinson!" Diane sneered, only to meet the icy glare of Mrs. McGonagall – "and five for silly behaviour in class!"

"But – I was riding – a broomstick – and falling. And – and – were you the good blue shape?"

"Oh, you are being silly and foolish! Flying in class – who ever heard of such an excuse? Back to your seats – we shall begin our lesson immediately!"

***

"What really did happen in class, Valerina? What happened?" Veronika begged, tugging on my sleeve.

We were walking to the Great Hall for dinner, after our latest Herbology class. It seemed the whole school had found out about my incident, which I still did not understand. Slytherins slouched away from me, and Gryffindors were beginning to doubt me.

None of the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs thought I was being foolish in class. They felt concern for me, and all of them had crowded around me in the common room while we were studying, even the real Katrina Labont, and I had nothing to say. I could not tell them they shouldn't make such a fuss – they should. In History of Magic classes, which everyone dreaded because of our ghostly teacher, Professor Binns, who was our only ghost teacher, we had learned that having mysterious daydreams involving 'self and something unexplainable' was not a good sign. But, then again, I couldn't tell the students in the common room not to worry, or they'd just get all soft and dramatic, and I wouldn't feel any better.

"Oh, please tell us," Pamella whined again.

"Well, I can't really explain what it was – just a weird daydream; it started out as a thought, but then I was lost in it … it just swirled around me, weird," I explained, half mystified, half terrified.

"Well … you just stopped in your tracks, and stared at the windows, and …. You, oh, I shouldn't say this out in the open"- Sadia began softly.

"You fainted," Veronika continued seriously. "Valerina, this is bad. Not many people just faint in class and have a weird dream. You might be … in trouble. Maybe … maybe something bad will happen to the school."

"Bad, bad?" I asked. "I mean, like a big monster coming in or something?"

"Worse, probably," Veronika shivered fearfully. "Much worse."

***

I scrambled into the common room after Sadia, and the portrait hole closed shut behind me. I was still wary and skittish because of my accident, and the weird things that had been happening. I had a feeling that Veronika was right, and that something might happen this year, something dangerous and serious, and people would get hurt. I gulped as we climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Sadia," I whispered nervously, "I really think Veronika's right. I really do think something bad is going to happen."

Sadia glanced nervously at me, then responded, "I think something's going to happen too, and I have an eerie feeling it's going to happen right when we get to the top of this staircase."

And surprisingly, she was right. Really right.

"MOONRIDGE!" I screamed as I burst in the door and tore towards my bed. My heart blazed in fear and worry, and diamond-like tears squeezed out of my eyes with panic. Moonridge, my beloved Bengal eagle owl, was missing! Gone! Her cage was empty – _and the door was opened!_

My heart raced, and Sadia, Veronika and Pamella looked very nervous. "Something bad will happen," I sputtered to my friends through sobs.

"No," Pamella said. "It already has happened."


	8. Oohs, Woos and Noos

_Of Oohs, Woos and Noos_

OR, Rumors and Ravens, pt. 2

**A/N: Here are a few tidbits about the main characters that I dug out of my memory last night. They're not really essential to understanding the story, but I thought they might help you to envision the characters better.**

**Valerina is 9 years old and (as I think has already been mentioned) redheaded. She comes from a pureblood family and has several adult siblings who were in Ravenclaw, as well as Velma and Ginny, Hufflepuffs who are 15-16 and 13-14 yrs old respectively. Her middle name is Carly.**

**Pamella is 10 years old and has a large pureblood but poor family: her parents Patrick and Bonnie and her siblings Maurice, 22, graduated and a chaser for the Falmouth Falcons, Bill, 18, Marvin, 16, Charlotte, 16, Paisley, 15, Susan, 12, who has a gift for Potions, Pansy, 9, and Posy, 8. The entire family lives on a farm rather like the Burrow. Pamella's middle name is Janet.**

**Veronika is also 10 years old, redheaded, and muggle-born. She is the most athletic of the group and has two older sisters: Chantelle, about 12, and Brandee, 13.**

**Sadia's age is never specified, but I envision her to be the eldest of the group, so probably 11 or even 12. She is pureblood and an only child. My original notes for the story stated she was from Palestine or somewhere else around the Middle East, but I envision her more East Indian. **

**So please read, review, and above all, enjoy the randomness of what comes out of a 9-year old author's mind!**

October 1st, 1:00 pm

"Now mount your broom and hold on tightly. We don't want anybody sliding off the end," I informed clearly in Madame Hooch's same words, my voice ringing boldly through the grassy broom riding yard. I hoped that would satisfy the other first-years around me, others who had learned to ride but did not do very well. It was my job to teach them, and maybe I could improve and get onto the team. I wouldn't get in on pure talent, but at least I would be on the team.

I was going through my first, extremely boring lesson. I glanced over the spiralling stone towers and polished marble statues of the school to the Quidditch pitch, where the Ravenclaw team was streaking through the air, practicing. Why couldn't I be soaring around with them, instead of standing feet firm on the ground, ordering eleven year olds around?

I let out a long, hard breath. My voice was loud and confident, but inside I was fearful and anxious. Was I really a good teacher? _How could I be, when so many weird things were happening in school? _said a nasty little voice in my brain. So far, Ravenclaw house – and only Ravenclaw house – was having many problems. None were as dangerous or mysterious as me fainting in Mrs. McGonagall's class, but they were still very unexplained. So far, Priscilla Tamble, a skilled sixth-year Ravenclaw who usually could fly upside down on her broom couldn't even hover without crashing to the ground, Brandee Tresant's cauldron had turned her potion into crude soup, and Pamella had failed an important question on a History of Magic quiz. She had studied all week for this question!

Worse, I hadn't found Moonridge yet. I had talked to Dumbledore and Madame Hooch, and they had made an announcement. Dumbledore, as well as me, thought that Moonridge had been stolen by Diane, and probably all her friends as well – Jade, Millicent, Parvati, and Lavender. But none of them seemed nervous enough to be guilty when we had talked to them about it, so I began to think that we were _all _in danger here, and somebody terrible and evil was guilty – someone very dangerous.

I shook the distressful thoughts out of my brain and concentrated on the girls and boys mounting their brooms eagerly. I gulped nervously, knowing that if anything bad happened to them, anything at all, I would be in serious trouble with Madame Hooch.

"Stand up, nice and tall, and kick your right foot on the grass – hard. Then, hover for a moment, and touch back down. On my" – what should I say? Madame Hooch had said 'on my whistle,' but I had no whistle- "on my clap now."

Obediently, as my hands slapped together, the children stood up, stamped, and lifted steadily and slowly. One little Ravenclaw girl, Rebecca Turner, began to wobble dangerously on her thrashing _Shooting Star _broomstick.

My heart thumped and I swallowed hard, fear dancing behind my eyes. Acting as quickly as I could, I rushed over and stammered, "Okay now, Miss Turner, put your feet down, no, I think you've hovered enough. Put them down now"-

But she couldn't.

She wasn't hovering anymore. Her broomstick was going out of control. I could only stare and watch hopelessly, my heart blazing with terror like a burning-hot coal, as the girl shot vigorously out of sight! Then – there it was – speeding along next to the castle walls, then rising, rising, higher than the Quidditch pitch, then swinging furiously like a wild unicorn stallion breaking out of a stable.

I was instantly gone, rushing at full speed through the halls, capes flashing behind me. The halls sped by and everything around me was a blur, except for the flashing message in my mind – _get your broomstick from the common room and get her down! _From either side of me I heard voices yelling at me to slow down, but I kept on running. My heart thumped and I could hardly breathe, gentle breezes suddenly tearing by me. I saw people duck out of my way.

It seemed an instant, a terrified instant, as I ripped up the staircases to the portrait hole. Everything around me was spinning, and I couldn't understand anything … suddenly I was falling into mist … NO! I couldn't faint again, not now. I stopped to catch my breath, shook my head, and shouted out the password. The picture of the knight slowly creaked open – too slow! I pushed it aside and scrambled through the passageway, hearing the startled voice of the knight yelling behind me.

Finally – I was in the common room. It was empty, seeming wide, airy and still. Even the giant blue and silver banners seemed faded without he blur of everyone around me. No – I couldn't rest, not until Rebecca was down. I could still see her in my mind as I dashed through the common room and up the spiralling staircase, her blonde pigtails and Ravenclaw scarf flaring, the broomstick smashing against the wall, the young student falling … falling … and her last minutes being ones of pain and terror. I couldn't let that happen! I was gasping for breath and I could hardly hear my own footsteps clattering against the stone steps of the tower. I swung open the heavy door to the girls' dormitory. It was a long room, with many windows and sixty-seven bunkbeds for all the girls in Ravenclaw. Gray light slanted in from the windows, and the dust that filtered in from the cracks under them floated in the room. I was so tired that I could only drag myself from the door to the bunk bed Pamella and I shared. Panicking, I frantically fumbled through our things … books, Moonridge's cage, a cauldron, Pamella's broomstick – a horrible memory struck me as if I had been struck by a bowling pin. My broomstick, an awful old _Chudley 1990, _which is an out-of-date model, had crashed when I was flying in broomstick riding class, and Dumbledore had taken it to the repair shop in a village miles away! **(A/N: Why didn't she just use Pamella's broomstick? I guess we'll never know…) **

The whole world flashed by as I streaked out of Ravenclaw tower, ran worriedly down the staircases, and scanned the halls in despair. Maybe, if I searched the whole school, I could find my friends and ask one of them if I could borrow their broomsticks. It was worth a try, because Rebecca might be near crashing by now, and the teachers were too far away to ask. If I went to them, Rebecca might be lifeless before I even found them – OOF!

I stumbled into a cloaked figure and realized I had just crashed into a student. _Oh, _I thought, _bet it's a Slytherin; then I'm just done for._

But it wasn't a Slytherin.

It was Velma, a Hufflepuff.

It only took me two seconds to bitterly spit out the whole story to her, sobbing and crying through the choking tears that were running down my cheeks. "And if she crashes, she'll die. Then I'll be expelled, and worse, Rebecca will be gone. Lost forever. Dead."

"Oh, do you think I should tell the teachers?" I wailed in distress, boiling-hot tears burning my cheeks.

"No," Velma said firmly, but I could tell that she had a little shaking fear behind her voice. "If we waste time finding them, Rebecca will already be dead – and the other first-years might already be trying to save her. It's really lucky that I'm just back from Quidditch practice. You can borrow my broom," Velma explained, handing me the broom. "Let's go!"

In less than a second, we were in the broomstick riding yard. With a little gasp of relief I noticed the other kids were still on the ground.

Without even saying a word, I boldly swung onto the broom and blasted into the air. Wind – cool wind – slapped my sides and trickled like water down my back. I rocketed straight into the air and turned my broom so that I could see Rebecca. Her broom shook violently in the air like a helpless puppet dangling from a stage. Then, as I could only watch, horror-struck, the tiny broom, shaking Rebecca like a limp rag doll, swooped down fearfully close to the stone walls of the castle. I seemed to hang in midair with terror and panic as her broom whirled around with a deafening SWOOSH! Luckily, it only exposed the bristles to the walls. Crashing, the broom struck once, twice; it whirled around, three times.

I tightly tug my fingertips into my palms. I had to catch that broom!

The broom, with Rebecca on it, soared wildly up into the sky. It throbbed and turned sharply, then plummeted down, down, down! Rebecca would surely break all her bones if she hit the ground!

Hot could I get that broom? It was definitely cursed; every time I got close to it, it flew away! For a moment I thought – Diane? No, I decided. A curse strong enough to jinx a broom could only be preformed by a great wizard, not a ten-year old girl. And no students are allowed to curse in school.

Maybe, if I caught the broom by surprise, it wouldn't have time to turn away. Yes – I could corner it.

Heart racing with excitement, I soared up to the school roof. My plan spread out before me. With me out of the way, the broom knew it was time to crush Rebecca. Of course, it headed straight for the wall to crash Rebecca. I knew I only had a few minutes to act.

Impressively, I dove down to corner it. It wheeled around in surprise, but I grabbed it just in time and swooped excitedly to the ground.

Rebecca was shaking and drenched with rolling tears as she settled to the ground. Velma came running up to me, along with my friends, Bradley Labont, and Madame Hooch, head of Ravenclaw house. I sighed in disappointment. I was in trouble – maybe detention, maybe points taken away, or even expelled.

But I wasn't expelled.

What I was, was wrong.

It all flashed by in two seconds, but it changed my entire first year forever.

"Hooray for Mrs. Tristont, newest and eighth member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team!" shouted Bradley Labont.

I gasped in surprise. My wish was coming true.

***

October 11th, 2004

**(A/N: Basically all of Bradley's dialogue in this segment is copied straight from Wood's speech to Harry in the Philosopher's Stone movie. Be warned; the following section of the chapter contains more pathetic insults and a rip-off of Cho Chang.) **

"Quidditch is easy enough to understand," Bradley explained patiently as we strode through the broom-riding field. My mind was spinning with impatience and enthusiasm. I was thrilled – my very first Quidditch practice!

I had impressed Bradley so much with Rebecca's rescue that he couldn't resist an eighth and younger player on the team and made a second space. It was a sunny year – the weather hadn't gotten cold yet, and so Quidditch season was coming up. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin would compete for the school Quidditch cup, so he had to train me up as quickly as possible.

"Each team," he commented, "has seven players – a seeker, a keeper, two beaters and three chasers. You are a chaser, Valerina."

He put down the chest he was holding. It was adorned with brightly colored Hogwarts symbols. Bradley opened it to reveal two medium-sized balls chained up. They were throbbing and shaking viciously, trying to escape. There was also a large, smooth red ball which sat still in another pit. The larger ball didn't seem to want to break free.

Bradley took out the big, red ball and held it in his hands, facing me. "This ball is the quaffle," he explained clearly. "The chasers"-

His sentence was interrupted by a shriek of laughter from the far end of the yard. My head swung over to the far end of the field, and my spirits sank like a stone in deep water. Diane, Jade, Millicent, Parvati Patil, her sister Pipi Patil, and Lavender Brown were walking by, probably to the Slytherin common room, arms filled with books.

"Ooh noo," squealed Lavender and Parvati together, while Pipi laughed and made faces. "Oooh noo," they sneered again, "Ooh, don't go any further, Valerina, oh, the bludgers are _scary_! Oooh, they'll get you! Oooh noo!"

Dianne laughed meanly and stared at me cruelly. "Ooh, noo! Don't try out for the scary team – you're going to fail anyways – you're going to get hurt! Noo, noo, noooooo…"

Their laughs, hoots and whoops died away as they disappeared into another passageway. Bradley frowned. "Friends of yours?" he asked sarcastically.

I sniffed. "Not nearly," I snapped. I was angry at Diane and her gang for teasing me, but what really bothered me was the fact that she was encouraging me to leave the team of my dreams and saying I was going to die. _She _wasn't even on the team!

Another high-pitched squeal of laughter shattered the silence like glass, and a robed figure dashed through the hallway, chasing Diane. Smiling, I saw wavy brown hair and thought it was Pamella, but then I realised it was her almost identical sister, Pansy Parkinson. She'd seen the others teasing me, and wanted to show them just how negative they'd been.

"Woooo!" she yelled at Diane. "The bludgers are coming! Woooo! Uh oh, run away! Here they come!" Pansy chased Diane, shrieking, "Woo!"

Their footsteps faded away and Pansy lost fun of her little game. I was pleased that Pansy was showing Diane how mean she had acted, but confused at one thing.

"What _is _a bludger?" I asked curiously.

"Ah – we'll get to that later," he informed, his voice as patient and helpful as it always was. I liked having such a kind, gentle Quidditch teacher.

"Now, the chasers handle the quaffle and try and shoot it through one of those three hoops. The keeper defends the hoops. Normally, there are three chasers, but we have four. That makes us harder to defeat than any other team."

Bradley untied the thrashing balls. Violently, they shot up into the air, veering the school towers, and viciously they sliced downwards. Staring somewhat fearfully at the bludgers, Bradley grabbed a bat and shot the bludgers away from me, then waited for them to come down.

SMASH!

The balls raced downwards and hurtled into Bradley. Shocked, I rushed forwards to help, but he was already wrestling the balls back into their chains.

I actually wanted to say that they _were _a little bit frightening, but then I remembered Diane shrieking, "Oooh noo!" and decided I could show her.

"That's your bludger. The beaters shoot the bludgers around and try to use them to knock other players off their brooms. Vicious! Brutal! But the worst these balls have done is break someone's legs."

I swallowed hard. Fear tingled in my heart – not blazed, but tingled. But I tried not to care about bludgers – I was a chaser!

"And so what does the seeker do?" I questioned.

"Ah," Bradley said. To my surprise, he opened up the largest Hogwarts symbol to reveal a small golden ball. Bradley popped it out and held it in his hands.

"This is the golden snitch. When it flies, it's downright fast and impossibly tricky to see. The seeker – that's me – tries to catch it before the other team's seeker. I catch this – and we win. But, the snitch is only worth 150 points. If you get 150 points by earning ten points per goal, we win before anybody catches the snitch, if I catch the snitch before anyone had 150 points, we win too. But the other team – they can win by these rules, too…"

His voice trailed off dreamily, and he gazed up at the still, cloudy sky.

"Why are you just … staring at the sky?"

"Thinking of Cherry Chang."

"Who's _Cherry Chang?"_

"Our old seeker. When she graduated, I got onto the team … it was my third year when I became seeker."

"What's so special about Cherry Chang? Was she your friend or something?" I asked, but not rudely.

Bradley managed a little laugh. "No. She always caught the snitch. The game began, and she'd just zoom out there and seize the snitch. The games would be over in fifteen minutes."

"Wow," I thought. "You know, Bradley, some day I'll be as great as Cherry Chang, you can count on me…"

***

October 13th, 2003

**(A/N: 2003? Last time I checked, this story was set in 2004. Have we gone back in time a year?)**

"I can't believe it!"

Sadia and Veronika were still hugging me and congratulating me in the common room as we studied before supper later that day. It seemed that the whole school knew, to the delights of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs (and the terror of Diane and her friends) that I was on the Quidditch team.

Everywhere I went in the hallways, there were always students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff congratulating me or walking by my side, or Gryffindors fearfully whispering to themselves, or Slytherins pretending to burst into tears. It was a little annoying, how each house reacted differently to my victory, but I thought I liked the Ravenclaws' and Hufflepuffs' reactions best.

"Oh, you're on the Quidditch team!" Pamella kept shrieking, hugging me with joy. My heart was all lit up inside; I was so happy with my success. Sadia and Veronika kept talking about how they would work together with me during the game, and I was very excited. I couldn't even do tonight's Fantastic Beast homework, because all that was on my mind was Quidditch.

I stared at the roll of parchment with the instructions on it. How was I ever supposed to do all this homework on beasts? It didn't seem right. Practicing for Quidditch wasn't the same as playing it, and so every practice made me want to play even more.

_Fantastic Beasts Assignment:_

_Dear Miss Tristont,_

_The following assignment should be two rolls of parchment and completed by Monday. You are to write down everything you know about the behaviour, identification, and defeat of these beasts, monsters and animals:_

_Ashwinder, aurgey, basilisk, boggart, centaur, chimera, dragon, dugbog, fairy, fire crab, flobberworm, fwooper, giant spider, ghoul, griffin, grindylow, gnome, hippogriff, hinkypunk, jobberknoll, kappa, knarl, kneazle, kelpie, leprechaun, moke, mooncalf, murtlap, phoenix, pixie, puffskein, remora, red caps, re'em, ruenespoor, salamander, shrake, sea serpent, snidget, sphinx, streeler, three-headed dog, troll, unicorn, water monster, werewolf, winged horse and yeti._

I sighed and pushed my papers away to start on the second roll of parchment. Usually, I felt homework was fun. But now I was much too eager for Quidditch games to start. Our first match, against Gryffindor, was in two weeks. Two weeks seemed way too long. I decided to finish up my homework, and then maybe I could have some time to read my book, Quidditch through the Ages.

I jabbed my pen in the ink and started writing. I was on the snidget.

_The Golden Snidget is a small, rare bird with brilliant gold plumage, with red feathers on the wings. Snidgets are rare and beautiful, and the Ministry of Magic has declared a law against hunting them, which was popular in the 1900s. Snidgets have long, hard beaks that they use for capturing insects. Snidgets are sometimes used as reserve snitches in Quidditch…_

QUIDDITCH!

I flopped down on my homework in despair. How could I ever write an essay on a bird that had something to do with Quidditch? Couldn't I just skip the snidget and go onto the Sphinx, or the streeler, a giant poisonous snail which frequently changed color? No, Professor Kettleburn, our beast knowledge teacher, had said every animal on the list.

I stared at Pamella, who smiled at me, then closed her book and rolled up her parchment. "I'm finished my beast essay," she murmured quietly, for the common room was very still and undisturbed by noise, so she wouldn't want to break the silence and have everybody look at her. She was a shy girl, but as unpopular as she was, Pamella stood up for what she believed. That was what I liked most about her.

All my friends were good and true. That's really what I was glad for, because the Quidditch season was coming up and Diane would kill me with teasing. She wasn't happy that I was on my houses' team and she wasn't on hers', so she made the best of it – really the worst – by saying negative things about our team and that I was a bad player.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Madame Hooch, head of Ravenclaw, burst in the door. Every head in the common room looked up at the surprising noise.

"Are we having another broom riding class?" asked Pansy Parkinson.

"No, but today we'll be doing the thing that will prove the Sorting Hat's decision and that you are right for Ravenclaw. If you can't do it … well, keep trying. You won't need wands or books. Today we'll be calling the Raven," Madame Hooch beamed in her alert, sharp voice.

Pamella and I looked at each other in confusion. My mind was stuck and puzzled – I'd never heard of calling the Raven.

"What's that?" piped up Pansy Parkinson.

"The Raven, as you all know, is the symbol of Ravenclaw," Madame Hooch began brightly. **(A/N: actually, it's the eagle…) **"Now, the founders of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin, all had their own pets or magical animals they paid attention to, and Rowena's, well, hers was the Raven. Now the Raven is a magical creature and therefore immortal, and it only comes to help Ravenclaw students, and only in their darkest hours of peril. The Badger does the same for Hufflepuff, the Griffin for Gryffindor, and the Serpent for Slytherin. But, you cannot do so without first calling the Raven."

"The raven is f-friendly, r-right, Madame Hooch?" questioned the shaky little voice of redheaded Heather Brocklehurst.

"Oh, it's quite powerful and a handful, but I told you, it helps students in their darkest hours of peril," Madame Hooch explained excitedly. "Now, line up in alphabetical order, and I'll take you down to the outdoor area so you can call the raven one by one."

A pang of sadness ached inside of me, thinking about Moonridge. She was still gone, and I hadn't seen her since, not even a feather. I doubted that Moonridge had been stolen, and my fears were rose, because I thought that something worse had happened to her. Maybe she had been trapped, or was lonely, or even worse – killed.

I was a little nervous, too, about an enormous black bird with a shining beak and razor sharp talons swooping onto my shoulder. Glancing across the room, I could see that Heather Brocklehurst felt the same way about this. I didn't think it was that safe, but I could see that if Madame Hooch wasn't worried, it wouldn't be very dangerous. I was almost in the back of the line, between Veronika Tresant and Larry Trint.

"Do you think it will be … well … scary?" I asked Veronika in a shaky voice, because my heart was still flopping with nervousness, but I thought again of Diane shouting, 'Ooh noooooo!' and said, "Well, I guess there's nothing to worry about." Still, I had to admit that I was a little frantic.

As we crawled through the portrait hole and shuffled quietly through the hallways, I saw Diane standing in the hallway with Parvati and Lavender.

"Ooh, nooo! Calling the scary Raven! It's going to get you! Its claws are tearing into your skin!" Parvati shrieked while Lavender and Diane made strangling noises from deep in their throats.

Behind me, I heard Larry Trint yell something at them, and in front of me, I heard Veronika whisper gently, "They try so hard to tease people – just look at what kind of fools they're making themselves look like. They look like drunken gnomes like the ones we snare in our garden. I'll tell you more about the gnomes in the common room."

But as we passed down the last stairway into the well-lit, crowded hallways, Diane and her friends followed us.

"Mind if I tag along?" Diane snickered, pushing me out of the way. "Noooo, don't go see the scary raven! Ooh noo, Valerina, remember your vision!"

Instantly, they had gone too far. Their teasing had only blown up the anger inside of me, and now I had to let it erupt.

"_Oooh noooooo!"_ I yelled at them. _"Ooooh, you'd better realize that the only thing scary is _me_! You'd better leave me alone and realize that I have loads of friends that support me, Diane Madeline Prompton!" _I exploded. My whole body had flushed red, and my fists were clenched so hard that my knuckles were white and my fingers looked like snow-capped mountains. Diane, Lavender and Parvati fled swiftly, their robes flapping and hair trailing, and I thought I'd gotten the better of them when I heard Lavender Brown yelling, "You're so crazy that I'd _like _to clear off, Valerina ballerina!"

Several kids standing in the hallways laughed at my nickname, but Velma and her friend Elizabeth, who were standing there, hushed them all up.

It was then that I noticed Madame Hooch glaring at me. I realized I had been rude and noisy in the hallways, and I just knew I'd get points taken away. But Madame Hooch surprised me.

"I would have take points away, but I saw Miss Prompton, Miss Brown, and Miss Patil teasing you back in the corridor, and therefore no points will be taken away. But I will speak to Professor Snape, head of Slytherin, and he will see to it that points are taken away from Miss Prompton, Miss Brown, and Miss Patil. Now, shall we carry on?" she informed sharply.

There were several murmurs of 'yes' from the line of impatient, fidgeting Ravenclaws.

When we finally stepped out into the sunlight, I was glad to see that the broomstick riding field and the corridors around it were silent and empty. I didn't want anybody to see us calling the Raven.

At first, the yard seemed airy, wide, and lonely under the endless, spreading grey sky that domed above the tallest towers of the castle, but in an instant when all of Ravenclaw had spread into it, the crowded area had little room to move, only tight pockets. The packed-in, noisy field now seemed more like a carnival midway on a hot, busy day. Madame Hooch stood proudly in front of us all.

"Calling the symbols of our house," she announced brightly and swiftly, "is a new idea inspired by Headmaster Dumbledore for this year and on. Now, when I call your name, you shall step up to me, close your eyes for a moment, and hold out your hand. The Raven will then fly onto your hand, and you will hold it there for a moment, state your name, and it will fly off until the next person calls. Valerina Tristont!"

My heart flopped and my stomach was tied in knots as I stepped meekly up to Madame Hooch. Everybody was staring at me, all of their eyes following me as I stood by our house leader.

"Now, what are you waiting for? Hold out your hand," she boomed in her jolly voice.

Swallowing hard, I slowly outstretched my arms and squeezed my eyes tight, waiting for the sharp claws to clutch my hand. Something, I thought, did not feel right. Was my horrible nightmare going to affect me again? My heart rolled over, and for a split second I was going to burst over to Madame Hooch and tell her, but then I had a mysterious, powerful feeling that something unstoppable was going to happen, something that would go along with my awful daydreams.

I did not feel the wonderful sensation I usually did when Ravenclaw was mentioned. My insides did not glow and burn with excitement, and my mind did not spin with thrill and spirit. I could only stand there, waiting for the awaited impact.

But everything remained silent. Five minutes had passed since I outstretched my hand, and there was no Raven. When I opened my eyes, there was no majestic, obsidian bird swooping down, and no weight on my hand. I glanced nervously over at the crowd of Ravenclaws, and their eyes were filled with horror and worry. Madame Hooch's eyes were mysterious, and, I feared, almost bewitched-looking.

"It has happened," she began in a raspy voice that threw a cold, frightened feeling over us. My heart felt panicky and almost ready to tell Dumbledore everything that had happened, when Madame Hooch's voice spoke again.

"_It has happened. The Raven has been locked up; the LINK is broken. The LINK that defended our school from evil plots and dark disaster is broken. Tonight, the LINK'S enemy will set out and repeat the terrible plans. Tonight … the LINK'S enemy … will set out … and repeat … the terrible plans he has been plotting for years. Without the raven's defence, he will set out to destroy the LINK, and once he had done so … he will rule…" _she rumbled.

She turned her head around and looked at us. Her legs shook with fear, her eyes were wide and terrified, and even her voice was awkward.

"G-go b-back to the Common Room," she whimpered. It looked as if she was ready to faint.  
"I-it's going to r-rain."

It didn't look like rain, but I could pay no attention to that. Everything, even calling the raven, had vanished from my mind, except for horror and worry.

"The LINK?" I murmured to myself. The word had a mystical touch to it. "What's the LINK?"

Terror-struck, we shambled shakily back to the direction of the tower. I glanced fearfully around at the dark castle, now only lit by the flaming torches. The world outside had grown very dark and cloudy, and I now thought it was going to rain. I tried to think of everything Madame Hooch had said. _"Dark plans?" _I thought. _"Who's the enemy who's plotting them? Who, or what, or what is there to know about, the LINK?" _

But suddenly, I saw something dreadful. It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen in all of Hogwarts, and I nearly lost my balance in worry.

It was a student lying on the floor.

**A/N *Gasp!* what is going to happen to Valerina & Friends? Will they ever find out about the LINK? Will Diane ever think of a better insult than 'Ooh noo?' Read on to find out… I can already feel the almost-directly-copied-from-Chamber-of-Secrets plot thickening! **


	9. MORE Copied Dialogue

_Of …MORE…Copied Dialogue _

OR, The Raven has been Locked up – the LINK is Broken

**A/N I've bumped up the rating to Teen because of something that I've just remembered happens in a later chapter. **

I heard Sadia slide to the floor behind me and collapse in a pile.

My mouth gaped open and my heart froze with cold terror. It all flashed by so quickly – the rest of Ravenclaw skidded to a stop behind me; Slytherin, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff filled up the other two passageways. High-pitched gasps shot up from the gathering teachers. I noticed that Madame Hooch was not with them.

Somebody from the Ravenclaw crowd pushed past me and ran to the lifeless girl. I realized it was black-haired Bradley Tamble, not Bradley Labont, but Bradley Tamble. Bradley Tamble was in his second year and a beater on the Ravenclaw team. But once in my whole school year I did not think about Quidditch.

Right away, I realized that the figure on the floor was Bradley Tamble's Ravenclaw sister, Priscilla Tamble. She had been weak before, then weaker, and now here she was, lying almost dead on the school floor.

Dumbledore slowly made his way over to the girl, whose arms were tucked against her side, eyes wide and staring. Her mouth was gaped open in a gasp. Dumbledore stared kindly at Bradley, then waved his hand as a gesture to go back to the other Ravenclaws. Bradley slunk back among the Ravenclaw crowd.

Dumbledore' wispy voice made no disturbance in the silence, for he spoke in much of a whisper. "It is Priscilla Tamble."

"You'll be next, Tristont!" Dianne yelled at me from the Slytherin crowd, only to meet the stern, angry glare of Professor Snape staring at her.

"Let this accident be a reminder," Dumbledore continued softly, "that I recommend caution to all until further notice. It is as we feared, Minerva. (That's Mrs. McGonagall's first name) The Raven has been locked up – and the LINK is definitely broken."

Then, he stared at all of us; each and every one of us met his worried gaze. "All of you, be cautious in your everyday work. And do not let the Raven or the LINK be a disturbance or worry in your thoughts."

But deep in my heart, I had an eerie, haunted feeling that this mysterious LINK and the locked-up Raven would only be the beginning of the problem … it would get worse…

***

Priscilla Tamble was fussed over by every Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, lying in a small bed in the hospital wing. Her body had lay still for about a week by now, and the nurse, Madame Pomfrey, saw no sign of her waking up.

Nobody knew how the girl got to be like that, or why she was lying still. The only explanation would be fainting, petrifaction, or unconsciousness, but all of those plunged headfirst into dead ends when Madame Pomfrey tried out a spell regarding to Priscilla Tamble's weakness. But there was no proof of what she had; not enough evidence.

***

"So, all we know is: Katrina Labont falls through a window, you faint and have this weird nightmare about it, and strange things happen to all of the Ravenclaws but no other houses, including Rebecca's broom getting cursed," Sadia said.

We were walking through the hallways to the library in our free time, to study. Our arms were loaded with books and rolls of parchment, and our capes swished annoyingly at our feet. All around us, the chatter and footsteps of buzzing crowds of students filled the hallways, bouncing and echoing off the pillars that held up the passageway roof. For a week, since Priscilla Tamble had been found lifeless in the corridor, the whole school had talked of nothing but the LINK and the dark plots, and Priscilla Tamble's state. It was hard to pay attention in class, to study hard enough for exams and tests, and, in our case, to think about who the LINK might be and what the dark plots might be.

"Then add the Raven not coming when we called it, Madame Hooch getting all weak and blurry-eyed, and Priscilla Tamble lying in the hallways," Veronika added more problems to Sadia's start.

"So," I said, "All we have proof of is that there's a powerful bond that's obviously on the good side, between the Raven and somebody else – probably Rowena Ravenclaw – and they're really strong together."

"But now the Raven's locked up so they're not as strong – I'll bet anything that's why the Raven didn't come when you called, Valerina," Pansy Parkinson fitted together slowly.

"And so, the enemy wants to kill the LINK"-

"Wait," I declared wisely. "Rowena Ravenclaw's already dead, so she can't be the LINK, can she? I mean, she lived one thousand years ago – well, that's when she founded Hogwarts, at least."

"Good point there!" exclaimed Pansy brightly. "So, we don't know who the LINK is, but the enemy is trying to kill it. With the LINK gone…" her voice trailed away in terror, and her skin grew pale.

"With the LINK gone, nobody can stop all the evil things from happening, and whoever the enemy is, he'll destroy us all, and turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts, and set out the basilisks, dragons, chimeras, werewolves, and all those other monsters for the survivors," Pamella burst out quickly, making sure she couldn't think too much about the terrible things that might happen. But really, all of us were very scared. Who was this LINK? Did he or she live in the school – well, of course they did, or why else would the enemy be in the school trying to kill them? He would be somewhere else…

"Let's hope that it's just Diane who's doing all this terrible stuff. I bet her father found out how to lock the Raven up and all that stuff, and she preformed a curse on Priscilla that made her paralysed and"- Pamella began.

"Well, that's exactly the point!" I exclaimed. A brilliant idea blast into my head and grew there, blossoming until I knew Pamella was right. "Don't you see?" I exclaimed. "Guys, it all fits! Diane, the enemy!"

Veronika snorted into her cape. "Well, you know, that is pretty likely," she laughed timidly.

All of us had to giggle a little. Even without the Link of the Raven involved, Diane was our enemy.

"Don't you get it?" I erupted brilliantly. It just all seemed to fit together in my mind – we had solved this mystery, at least part of it, and we had a good point and a suspect. The enemy was really who we had to discover, then the rest of it would fall in easily … wouldn't it?

"Diane thinks all Ravenclaws are scum … that's why all the weaknesses are happening to Ravenclaws … all those times we've seen her hanging out in the hallways? I bet she really just ran into a closet or bathroom with her friends and started planning spells and charms that could lock up a raven, and paralyse people, and make people have weird dreams and get really weak and misty-eyed and stuff!" I explained enthusiastically. It just seemed so easy!

"How about we look in the library for great history books," suggested Sadia with a twinkle in her eye. "We'll pretend to be getting information from a book for our History of Magic reports, but we'll really be looking for the LINK. Sound good?"

Veronika gasped. "But – but that's lying, and breaking rules – isn't it?"

"Nah," Pamella laughed, cradling her books and rounding the corner to the library. "It's for the school's own good, anyways."

***

The library was an enormous, busy and crowded room always filled with the excitement and chatter of students researching books. The large, floor-to-ceiling windows gave a good view of the sparkling moat and the grassy fields beyond that spread to the Quidditch pitch. Giant, elaborate chandeliers dangled impressively from the ceiling, and flaming torches shot up from the walls, even though it was the brightest room in the school. The carpets were rough, lime green material covered in red rugs with lemon-yellow tassels, and there were brilliant, decorative tapestries lining the walls. The rest of the room was packed with shelves and rows of books, and tables for looking at them.

Students from every house were always all over the place there, talking warmly, and all the company made the library a friendly place to gather and study. But, however, it was not a nice place, or an easy place, to cause mischief. At the back, there was a stone wall with a door. The door led to the restricted section of the library, restricted except for seventh-year students studying Potions or Defence against the Dark Arts. It was also a meeting place for teachers.

The books in the restricted section could shriek, and the most valuable or dangerous supplies of the school were kept there. There were rumours among the first years and second years that there were ghouls haunting the restricted section: giant, troll-like ghosts but not as friendly. But the teachers had searched millions of times and found only the school ghosts and Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's scrawny cat.

The reason the library was not an easy place to cause mischief was that there were always so many people around, so when you read something in a book you weren't supposed to, you had to be very quiet. Also, the librarian, Madame Pince, had a sharp eye like a hawk's and could see every move a child made from her desk at the front of the library.

As Pamella swung the door open, Sadia, Veronika, Pansy and I strode in casually, looking normal. Our plans spread out before us, and we were going to try and lie as few times as possible.

"And what are you doing today?" asked Madame Pince. "There are so many people in their common rooms, frightened of the rumours, but you might be up to no good hanging out in the library."

We were, was what Madame Pince didn't know. Veronika, who was still scared of getting caught, pushed the fear out of her eyes and nudged Sadia in the ribs, gently, with her elbow.

"Oh, we'll just be working on our History of Magic Reports, Madame Pince, so we'll be looking in the History section of the library," Sadia said gaily, really knowing that we _were _going to be in the History section of the library.

"And we don't believe in that silly ghoul either!" piped up Pansy bravely. Madame Pince, who had heard the ridiculous legend of the ghoul, rolled her eyes as some of the other first-years in the library fearfully glanced at the door and then back at their books.

"All right," Madame Pince informed, and she gestured her hand towards the rich supply of books thickly lining the many shelves.

Sadia, Veronika, Pamella, Pansy and I hurried off to the History section. There were twelve sections: Care of Magical Creatures, Beasts, Defence against the Dark Arts, Charms, History, Magical Astronomy, Transfiguration, Spells, Potions and Cauldrons, Broomstick riding, Quidditch, and Herbology. The eyes of some students followed us suspiciously as we rushed into the History section.

"Okay," whispered Sadia cautiously, who apparently seemed to be in charge of our plan. "Everybody, grab a book and bring it to a table. Search into the L section and the T section, L for LINK and T for The LINK. Now, if you can't find the LINK, get another book, and remember, it should say something about a Raven and Rowena Ravenclaw under the LINK."

I grabbed a thick, dusty green book with an ancient, musty smell. Golden writing on the cover read:

"_Famous Dates in History and Who Accomplished Them"_

Sounded good, I thought. I took Famous Dates in History and Who Accomplished Them to an empty table, lit an oil lamp with a magic spell, and opened the book. The pages were crispy, ripped, and yellow with age. The writing was all in capital letters, but in archaic-type writing that gave me a mythical feeling.

Slowly, but my heart racing with excitement, I leafed through the book to the L section. The best information would be who the LINK was, what it did, and who its enemies were. Oh, it would be so exciting to find out who the LINK was! Then – then, really, we would have solved the whole mystery. The teachers could go and hunt out the enemy – well, in other words, expel Diane – and set the Raven free! I just needed to find out who the LINK was! Ravenclaw might win the House Cup, or at least Dumbledore would give us extra points.

"Okay," I breathed to myself, settling my excitement, taking in long, deep breaths, but my short, huffy, thrilled ones came back. "Here I am, at the L section."

I flipped through the pages, silently gazing at each word. The L section was almost over and there seemed to be no sign of the LINK.

"Leprechaun discovery … Leprechaun Banishment from Villages … Leprechaun Day begins in muggle world … Lillipton Village is saved by Jacklyn Hummur from Dark Wizard attack … Lennie Humbot becomes Minister of Magic … Lennie Humbot is innocent but ordered to court…"

The LINK was not in _Famous Dates in History and Who Accomplished them, _nor in _Recent Heroes and their Enemies, _and there was no sign of it in _Famous Wizards in History who have Bonded with Animals. _(Veronika was almost sure the LINK was in that one.)

Sadia was sure the LINK would appear in _Famous Bonds with Animals, _but its pages were clear of it. Finally, we had to return to our common rooms, as the Library was closing down for the evening. Of all the students, we had managed to stay in the Library for the longest time, and checked through almost every one of the History books and had not found the LINK.

Sadia was scowling in anger as we approached the common room. "I was so sure that we'd find the LINK!" she complained. I had been, too. We had been so close, so close to finding out who the LINK was. It was disappointing.

"Well," Veronika began timidly, "I was so sure that we'd get into trouble, but we didn't. So … sometimes things that we really think will happen don't turn out."

Sadia glared at her, but said nothing. Then her eyebrows rose. "We might have been looking at the wrong type of books. We'll have to look again tomorrow. After our last Herbology lesson, let's meet in the Library and pretend we're finishing up our History of Magic reports. Really, do you have yours finished?" she decided firmly.

I wasn't so sure that would work, but at least it was an idea. "Yes," I answered, pulling it out of my robes. "I worked on it in the Library, so we wouldn't really be lying to Madame Pince."

"Me too," Sadia answered. "Come on, it's almost suppertime in the Great Hall. Let's meet there at 6:00, and in the meantime, let's work on our Beast essays."

As I shuffled through the portrait hole, a little bit of fear settled into my heart. I could not help thinking about the spooky, haunted predictions that were ringing about the school. What is we never found the LINK? We couldn't just report Diane to Dumbledore without finding out further information. What if Diane was only a victim of the enemy? What if … the unexpected were to be expected? This was all a mystery so far…

I was glad to finish off writing about the Snidget today, because even Quidditch had lost its excitement. Terrible things, I knew, were about to happen.

***  
October 20, 2003

It was 1:50 p.m., and we were in Mrs. McGonagall's classroom. The sunlight spilt in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. My heart beat as I looked nervously away from the windows, but I could glimpse them through the corner of my eye. "If I have another daydream, Mrs. McGonagall will kill me," I whispered nervously to Pamella, who was sitting beside me. But Mrs. McGonagall's alert, hawk-like eyes glanced about the whole classroom, no bit of foolishness escaping her sharp yellow eyes. She glanced threateningly at me, but didn't say anything.

Her spirits brightened for the lesson. "Your attention, students. Today we shall learn one of the most commonly used and precise transfiguration spells in the Wizarding History, to go with the routine we've been practicing. Can anybody tell me what we've been practicing?" she announced in her crisp voice.

My hand and Pamella's hand shot up in the air, but Mrs. McGonagall ignored us. Her eyes scanned the classroom, and, ignoring Parvati's waving hand, she picked Pansy. Parvati and Lavender snarled in annoyance behind her.

"The wand movements we've been practicing involve a nice, brisk, _swish _movement followed by a quick, downward _slash."_

"Excellent; five points to Ravenclaw!" Mrs. McGonagall announced brightly. "Now, as you swish and slash your wands, say _Avian Transfigure!"_

I stared at the pair of teal feathers I was supposed to be turning into bluebirds. I sighed and stared uncomfortably at them. Anything at all about birds reminded me of Moonridge, poor Moonridge. Still, nobody knew what her fate was, so I assumed she was dead. My mind was aching to hear more about the LINK, the Dark Plots, and the mysterious weaknesses. Priscilla Tamble had not recovered because Madame Pomfrey didn't know a cure for her state. Finally, my hand shot eagerly into the air.

"Valerina Tristont, this had better not be another silly excuse!" Mrs. McGonagall spat, but let me speak anyways. She was still disgusted at my daydreams of falling through the windows, but now that the mysterious prophecy had come into existence, she was a little frightened of the dreams.

"Mrs. McGonagall," I questioned timidly, "We were wondering if you could tell us about – about the LINK."

"Very well," Mrs. McGonagall answered quietly.

All over the classroom, students stared at each other and nervously laid their wands on the table. One boy's wand fell onto the feathers and they turned into bluebirds at the magical touch. Mrs. McGonagall watched as the birds fluttered out the window, swirling around each other.

"Now, as you all know, Hogwarts was founded one thousand and eight years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin. Of three of the founders who lived quite harmoniously together, one did not," she began, wringing her hands and walking about the classroom, as if it hurt her to even think about this.

"I wonder who that might be," joked Pamella.

"Salazar Slytherin did not like the idea of Hogwarts, because before his founding, he had been persuaded to join the dark side. The idea of the Chamber of Secrets, a historical chamber which now is destroyed and gone, was one of his tasks, and now the dark side was weaker than ever before. Salazar decided to leave the school, and, pretending he had been killed, secretly fought in the Dark Army force. One day he decided to turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts, taking Hufflepuff and Gryffindor his prisoners. But Rowena Ravenclaw used her gift of wisdom to secretly escape from his clutches and discover his plot."

Some of the Ravenclaws smiled at this news.

"Rowena Ravenclaw freed Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, but they were very weak. Nobody knows why, but they think that Slytherin had bewitched them so that they grew weaker. Now, Ravenclaw restored many wizards who had been forced to join the Dark Side to their original good state, and destroyed most of the bad side, except for some who fled into the forest and stayed there. Slytherin was among those."

"Rowena Ravenclaw is dead now, you know, but she decided to leave behind a LINK who could conquer Slytherin's Dark Plans after she died. She looked into the future and bonded somebody not yet born with the Raven. Even today, we do not know who the LINK is."

"Is the LINK someone who would be found in a History book?" piped up Pansy Parkinson.

"As I don't know who the LINK is," explained Mrs. McGonagall, "I cannot inform you furthermore on anything about the LINK, Salazar Slytherin, or the evil deeds, so I do not know where information on the LINK would be fond."

"But…what are the evil deeds supposed to be?" chimed in Heather Brocklehurst curiously.

"I can tell you this," Mrs. McGonagall quavered worriedly, fear illuminating her wary face, "that Salazar Slytherin did not just abandon his plans to turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts. He plotted an unknown enemy of the LINK, who would lock up the Raven so the LINK was broken, then set out again to destroy the LINK so he could unleash the horror of his dark plans. They are said to have something to do with the strengthening of – of a monster."

Everybody in the room fell silent. I had never been so worried in my whole life.

***

"So," Sadia announced quietly, "Diane is the Link's enemy, we think. So we've got to find proof. Next time something weird happens … we'll investigate and look for any sign of Diane. We _have_ to keep an eye on her."

We were in our second trip to the school library. It was quiet, because only a few students were at a table staring into books. We could be a little louder, because they were swallowed up by interest in their books, and they wouldn't hear our plans. The only one we had to be skittish around was Madame Pince.

"I don't think you've realized this," Veronika spat. "We can't be around the school at the same time, looking for Diane. Will we have to be _beside _each other all the time? That would be cheerful – 'Hello, Dianne. We've decided we like you and we want to stick with you and Jade and Millicent and Parvati and Lavender all the time'? When we really are suspiciously investigating her?"

Sadia rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of frustration. "I spent all of last night, if you don't realize, working out a solution to suspiciously discover what Diane's plotting. It involves"-

"Is this a plan that will get us into trouble if somebody finds out?" Veronika scowled.

"Yes," Sadia explained smoothly, ignoring Veronika's growls of complaint, "But nobody will find out. I _really _have this all worked out. It involves breeding two birds, a phoenix and a jobberknoll, in our common room, secretly."

"A _what?" _both Pamella and I exclaimed together.

"Honestly, didn't you three even _do _your beast reports? A jobberknoll is a small, pink and blue bird from Africa, which is silent except at death, when it repeats every word, every sound, it has ever heard in its whole life. A phoenix is a swan-sized bird with yellow and red plumage, which bursts into flames when it is time for it to die, and then the same individual bird is reborn again from the ashes. Phoenixes can't really die," Sadia beamed.

It seemed like with her, we would solve this mystery and then get expelled. I still wished that we could breed something else, because the thought of birds made me think too much about Moonridge. I almost knew she was dead, and my only hope was that she had broken free and was now journeying back to Hogwarts to find me.

"So how is breeding two illegal birds in the Ravenclaw common room going to solve this mystery?" burst out Veronika wildly.

"Shhh, keep it down, Veronika, somebody might hear you!" squealed Pamella, glancing around nervously.

"That's right, Pamella," Sadia continued. "Now, this is how we are going to get a phoenix and a jobberknoll. Remember those spells we were doing, turning feathers into birds? Well, the feathers were bluebird feathers, so that's why they turned into bluebirds. If we get a phoenix feather and a jobberknoll feather"-

"We have our birds!" Pamella giggled. This plan was spreading out before me. Now, it seemed risky, but very brilliant. I knew Sadia would pass all the end of the year exams.

"First night: we'll do this in the darkest corner of the common room, behind a tapestry, at night. When everybody's asleep, we'll sneak down to our hiding spot. Nobody will catch us because I'll do a charm that will make us invisible and inaudible. I'll do the invisibility spell on the birds, too. We'll … well, they'll mate and lay an egg, I'll make sure of it. When the egg is laid, we'll set the birds free out a window and sneak the egg into Moonridge's cage. Then you'll hide her cage in the closet and if anybody asks, say … say Moonridge likes to be alone."

"It will take a while for this egg to hatch, and when it does, the bird inside will be half phoenix, half jobberknoll. I don't know what it will look like, but we could call it a phenoll."

"Or a jobberix," I pointed out.

"When the jobberix is old enough, we'll make it invisible and set it out in the school. When it's burning day, the jobberix will die. But it will repeat everything it hears, and we'll recognize Diane's voice. It will say everything it overhears her plotting, and who the LINK is, probably, and everything we want to know. Plus, since half of it is phoenix, it will just burst into flame and then sort of … come back to life."

"And so," I questioned, "How long will it take for the egg to hatch?"

Sadia looked a little doubtful as she put the book back on the shelf, as if she was saying something she wasn't supposed to. Then she wrung her hands and answered, "A month."

My insides seized up. "A month?" My mind was spinning with confusion. "But, I don't understand. Diane could have destroyed the school by then, and the jobberix would be useless," I pointed out disappointedly.

"I know," Sadia whispered. "But it's the only chance we've got."


	10. In which Quidditch Rules are Discarded

_In Which the Rules of Quidditch are Utterly Discarded _

OR, Quidditch Game

October 30, 2004

Quidditch season had begun. The Forbidden Forest, a dark woodland that lay all around the school, was growing barren and leafless. Hagrid, the school gamekeeper, who lived in a small hut beside the school, was always busy harvesting his colourful garden which contained enormous, ripe cabbages and spiralling, tangled vines dangling from tangerine-colored pumpkins. The wind, which felt crisp and chilly, whistled all around the school, and scattered dry, crunchy leaves over the sparse grass.

Hogwarts had become very busy for everybody, including me, Pamella, Veronika and Sadia. Since the start-of-the-year exams **(A/N: what…?) **were coming up, we were busy finishing our last homework assignments so we could fill up our tests with everything we had learned from September to October.

Sadia had decided to leave the jobberix plan until our first Quidditch match, which was against Gryffindor. Besides all the homework we had to do, we also had to go to Quidditch practice. Everyday from 3:00 to 5:00, Ravenclaw had Quidditch practice. Rumors were whispered around the school that Ravenclaw had a tough match to play, because Gryffindor's new fourth-year seeker, Timothy Yang, was excellent, maybe as excellent as Cherry Chang had been. So Bradley Labont made sure that the Ravenclaw team practised as hard as they could.

I loved Quidditch practices. I could hardly think about the LINK or the enemy, Diane, or any of the Dark Plots. Every chaser got a turn to try and shoot a goal. When it was my turn, I would hold the Quaffle and fly across the pitch towards the Gryffindor goalposts, dodging the other Ravenclaw chasers, who had practice trying to steal the ball from me, and the beaters, who had practice shooting the bludgers and defending the other players from the bludgers. Then I had to shoot it past Alicia McTamble, the Ravenclaw keeper. Then another chaser would try and shoot a goal, and I would pretend to be a Gryffindor just like the others had done for me.

And during all this time, Bradley was trying to catch the snitch.

Pamella had a little more time for homework, because she wasn't on the Quidditch team. During the game she would cheer and swing the heavy banner of Ravenclaw, but she didn't need much practice for that. So during our spare time between classes, we would study together, and then when we had to practice, we would leave and Pamella would do her homework with Pansy Parkinson.

Every class, we got more homework in order to pass the quizzes. The start-of-the-year quizzes weren't as frightening as the end-of-the-year ones, in which you had to remember everything you had learned all year, and if you didn't pass you had to take your first year again.

We were going to be tested on every subject, so every night we had big assignments that sometimes took weeks to do, sometimes only an hour. In Herbology, our magical plant lessons, we had to look up millions of magical herbs and write down how to identify them and how to make remedies out of them. Every Wednesday night, we had to study the magical stars and planets in the tallest tower with our telescopes and try to read fortunes in the stars like the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest do. For homework, we had to write down projects on the stars and constellations, and how to read astronomy fortunes. We had to stay up late to look out our telescopes, which almost left me no energy for tomorrow's Quidditch practice and all our spells homework and potions homework.

Sadia, of course, always whizzed by on her homework and had more free time, but the rest of us normally took days to complete our projects. Plus, with the Quidditch game soaring into my mind every time the teachers threw loads of homework upon us, it seemed like the homework would take a year. It did drag by as I did it and thought too much about Quidditch.

The teachers were very well-prepared for the exams. They took all our feather pens and cursed them with an Anti-Cheating spell, and said that all our library books must be brought back to the library in case we looked for the answers in them during the tests. When we finally were finished our homework, we had to study until the big day of the exams came, and after them it would be all over until the end-of-the-year exams. We weren't allowed to look for books in the library **(A/N: The staff of Hogwarts has some really great teaching methods, don't they? Forbidding the students from accessing good study materials, for example – a stroke of absolute genius, huh?) **and so Pamella, Sadia, Veronika, Pansy and I couldn't look for the LINK anymore. It seemed that we were losing memory of the Dark Plots, and no more attacks happened to the students. I thought that maybe, the enemy had been defeated already by the LINK, or had decided to just leave the school alone. Maybe the Dark Plots would never happen, I hoped.

Then, finally, the day of the tests came. I woke up to Sadia' gentle shakes and shoves, and wearily dressed in my capes and Ravenclaw scarf. I gathered my wand and feather pen, and then was hurried down to the common room and out the door by Sadia.

"There you are," Pamella sighed. Veronika was with her. "We've been waiting for you, all of us. We're lucky quizzes haven't started yet. Come on, we've got charms."

But as we walked slowly down the hall to our charms classroom, I suddenly saw something that made my heart stop and freeze with fear. All the fearful memories poured back into my head and I seemed to fly down the corridors.

Two other students had been attacked.

Pansy Parkinson waddled in behind us, and I saw her eyes widen as she saw the two figures lying on the floor, in just the state Priscilla Tamble was in. She filled her lungs with screaming and shouted wildly,

"ATTACK! There's been another ATTACK! No human is safe! Attack! THERE'S ANOTHER ATTACK!"

It didn't take long for the corridors to fill with students and teachers.

"Oh my, oh my, my students!" cried Madame Hooch, rushing forward tearfully. Her eyes shone with worry. I suddenly realized, from the sky blue badges on their uniforms, that these students were Ravenclaws too.

Dumbledore strode up, his crimson robes drooping. "There's been another attack; a double one. It is as we feared. The Raven has definitely been locked up, and the Evil Deeds are being plotted by the Enemy," he whispered mistily.

"It's Katrina!" shrieked Bradley Labont, rushing forwards. I noticed that one of the girls lying on the ground was Katrina Labont; the other was a third year I hardly knew, Erica Balls.

"Come, Madame Pomfrey, let's get them into the hospital wing," Mrs. McGonagall ordered, trembling. I looked around and saw the two girls being picked up and carried down the hallway, saw the fear and shock on all the students' faces, and the grief on Bradley's. I was worried he wouldn't be able to play Quidditch. **(Priorities, people?)**

Dumbledore looked around and said, "Teachers, proceed back to the classrooms. I will help the attacked girls, but you must carry on with the quizzes."

"How can we do quizzes in this state?" complained Sadia as we tore down the hallways. "Tomorrow, after the quizzes, comes the Quidditch game; then the day after, we won't be so rushed and we can start on the jobberix."

***

The exams went by as slowly and uncomfortably as possible. Everybody fidgeted in their desks and chairs as we wrote down our quizzes in Charms, thinking about the surprise attack, and when we were called up individually to see if we could make a pineapple tap-dance across our charm teacher's desk, my wand nearly slipped out of my hand and the pineapple stopped for a moment. I was asked to refocus it with a wave of my wand, and I did so.

After charms we had to do every Transfiguration spell we knew with Mrs. McGonagall, then spend an hour with Professor Binns in History of Magic, writing down the full names of old wizards who discovered spells and potions, and memorizing famous dates and quests.

Then we had Potions and Defence against the Dark Arts quizzes. I really wished that we had a better teacher than Gilderoy Lockhart for Defence against the Dark Arts; he didn't really teach us anything except not to deal with argotarantulas (that's what he called the giant spiders that had attacked us earlier in the year.)

Herbology was a cinch, as was Fantastic Beasts. Then we had to go to the tallest tower at 10:00 at night to do our Astronomy tests. I was sure I passed my test, it seemed so easy. Then, it was all over and we could curl up under our blankets and relax. I didn't want to wake up for millions of years, it seemed.

***  
I had a strange dream that night. I dreamt that instead of riding my own broomstick, a slow brand called a _Chudley Climber, _I was riding a wonderful one that glided through the air like a seagull riding a current of air above a bay. I was chasing a faint blue glimmer; it kept disappearing into the trees whenever I got close. The tricky thing was, there was a dark bulk behind me that kept shifting appearance; first it was a cat, then a dragon, then a boy. A boy? Or was it Diane with a haircut? – it was very likely to be the Enemy of the LINK.

Suddenly the blue glow became brighter and brighter, the dark shape was disappearing behind me, I rounded a corner and then –

"Wake up!"

The voice sounded very much like Pamella's. Was she in this enchanted forest too?

Suddenly everything faded, and my eyes snapped open. I was looking into Pamella's face, and around me was the comfortable dormitory. My eerie dream was all over.

I stepped out of bed, wobbling at first, the world around me hazy and misty. It took a few minutes for me to adjust to the world around me.

Then I realized – today was the big day, the Gryffindor match! Heart racing with excitement, I put on my blue Ravenclaw robes, grabbed the old _Chudley Climber _broomstick, and shuffled down the tower into the common room. The whole team was waiting there, and all of Ravenclaw behind them. Veronika and Sadia dashed out of the team and hugged me tightly.

"Today's the day!" Sadia cheered, jumping up and down in enthusiasm.

I could hardly hold still as the Ravenclaw team stood still in front of the Ravenclaw crowd, who were cheering and chanting. Bradley, who was clearly the tallest of the team, glanced over his shoulder at me and whispered, "You can't ride that old Chudley thing against Gryffindor. I'll go get a spare _Shooting Star; _those are great."

Bradley slowly edged away from the crowd, when there was an enormous swoosh of air and Whisper, Pamella's owl, swooped gracefully in from the window, wings beating with enormous strokes. She was carrying a large package. Whisper lit lightly on the table, wings folding in against her fluffy white feathers. Sadia and Veronika grabbed the package and tore the brown paper open.

And what was inside was – a broomstick.

"It looks like – a broomstick," I murmured dreamily. I was so shocked and amazed that I could hardly speak. I thought again about Moonridge, who had not been heard of since she had been stolen, but my thoughts about her faded away at the astonishing delivery of the broomstick.

"That's not _just _a broomstick!" exclaimed Pamella, glancing at the end of the broom where there was fancy gold writing. "It's the new _Comet Power Sixty-Two _broomstick!"

"You sure can't ride that _Chudley Climber _against Gryffindor, but none of their brooms even compare to the _Comet," _Bradley Labont laughed, his guffaw shaking up the whole common room. "Come on, let's go eat at the Great Hall before the match. We need our energy."

**(A/N: I really should have written that bit better so it was clearer that the broom was a gift from Valerina. My ten-year old mind assumed that the reader would somehow figure that out. Even when writing, I hadn't really thought of who exactly bought her the broom, though I had vague thoughts of it being a Professor, probably Dumbledore, playing favourites, or Madame Hooch, hoping to boost the chances of her house winning the match. I have no idea why they sent it via Pamella's owl rather than give it to her in person, though. One might just assume that Pamella wrote home saying how cruddy her friend's broom was, and her parents sent Valerina the new one as a gift. I'll leave it up to the viewer for their own interpretation.)**

***

After an enormous breakfast, the students of Hogwarts began to shuffle out of the castle towards the Quidditch pitch. The two competing teams, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, made their way to the Quidditch planning rooms where they could plan the game. The Ravenclaw planning room was a small, dusty area with a low roof and blue banners hanging from the ceiling to match our robes. There were a few desks to sit at, and a big, musty-smelling chalkboard that Bradley was scribbling on.

He quickly told everyone that he was seeker, Alicia McTamble was keeper, Sadia and the other Bradley, Bradley Tamble, were beaters, and that Katie Bell, Veronika, her big sister Brandee, and I were the chasers. Then –

**(Cue the copied dialogue!)**

"Okay, men," Bradley huffed.

"And women," said chaser Katie Bell.

"And women," Bradley said again. "The first game of the season. This is it."

"The one we've all been waiting for," Sadia beamed, clutching her broom tightly.

"And the one we're going to win. We play our game and win. This is the best team we've had in years. We've got fast players, smart players, tricky players and strong players – everything a team needs. Gryffindor doesn't stand a chance," Bradley Tamble boasted.

We slowly began to make our way out of the hut and towards the Quidditch pitch. Though we still had to get to the opening gates, my heart was soaring with excitement, and my fingers were wriggling so that I could hardly hold my broom. There was nothing that could stop me from laughing out loud. But still, I was slightly nervous. This was my first game, my first game ever.

"Like I said, Gryffindor doesn't stand a chance. We're faster, stronger and smarter," Bradley Tamble laughed again.

"And not to mention we've got better brooms – and they're dead scared that if they get anywhere near Valerina her _Comet _will just _crush _them," giggled Alicia McTamble from the back of the line.

"Except," put in Bradley Tamble, "Except for Adrianna Pucey."

"Well, she's got a _Silver Climber, _but that will look like some joke next to the _Comet Power Sixty Two,_" hooted Veronika, snorting into her cape.

All talking was hushed as we made our way to the entrance gates that opened onto the pitch. The Gryffindor entrance was on the opposite side of the stadium. In a few moments, I thought, those gates would open and we would soar into the ring and begin to play. Then the excitement I had been waiting for would finally begin.

"Scared, Valerina?" asked a confident voice from above me. It was Bradley Labont.

"A little," I admitted, swallowing hard and clutching my broom.

"That's how I felt before my first game," Bradley gulped. "I was keeper then."

"What happened?" I asked, interested but nervous.

"I don't really remember. Somebody threw the Quaffle too hard and it hurtled into my stomach. I saved the goal, but I woke up in the hospital a day later."

Suddenly a loud voice from outside boomed, "Mount your broomsticks!"

I could hardly wait. In a few minutes, it would all begin. I clambered onto my _Comet Power, _and already I could feel the power rising inside of me. I hoped the match would begin soon.

Then, the doors swung open, and we lifted into the air and rocketed into the wide, sunny stadium. I felt like the whole sky belonged to me, and all the mountains and everything beyond Hogwarts. I couldn't believe it – what once had been a dream not come true was now really happening!

The thousands of ear-splitting cheers, applauses, and boos from the audience elevated as we sailed freely through the air, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff wanted to see Gryffindor beaten, and Slytherin and Gryffindor wanted Gryffindor to win. Thousands of kids, green and white ones – Slytherin – yellow and green ones – Hufflepuff – blue and white ones – Ravenclaw – and yellow and red ones – Gryffindor – flared brilliant flags in the air, shrieking with delight.

Pamella waved and cheered hysterically as I dove past. She was waving the banner of Ravenclaw, which was white and a type of flaming, dazzling indigo colour. The flag was adorned in the middle by a powerful-looking raven which flapped so much in the wind from the players flying three laps around the stadium that it appeared to be sailing to meet the magnificent lion of Gryffindor.

"HELLO, and welcome to the first Quidditch game of the season – Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor!" roared a jolly voice in the microphone, the same voice that had told us to mount our brooms, and I saw that it was Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor who was acting as commentator. My heart sank a little as I realized he would cheer for our rivals, but I didn't care much.

Following Bradley, I flew to the middle of the pitch and hovered in midair. We were all floating in a circle, with the Gryffindors on one side and Ravenclaws on the other side. I stared fearfully at the tough-looking Gryffindor team – none of them were first years and only one was a second year, which was what our team really was – they were strong, determined fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years: three girl chasers, two boy beaters, a girl keeper and a boy seeker. The chest with the balls in it was below us.

"Here are the Gryffindors – Humor, Johnson, Yang, Turner, Turner, Chortle and Pucey. They're a ready team that" – Lee cheered excitedly. I was getting quite annoyed with him, and I felt a bit braver when Mrs. McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, yelled a little at him.

"Okay, okay, Professor," Lee called. "Now, here are the Ravenclaws – Tresant, Tresant, Tristont, Bell, McTamble, Tamble, Mueslin and Labont. They have eight players but are made up completely of first years who"-

"Jordan, I'm warning you," Professor McGonagall scolded scornfully.

"Okay, the players take their positions as Madame Hooch steps out onto the pitch," Lee Jordan cried. I felt braver when I saw Madame Hooch, head of Ravenclaw house. She stood by the chest. She opened it with a thrust of her arms and the bludgers erupted out of it, followed by the golden snitch, and then she looked around at us, from Ravenclaw to Gryffindor.

"Now," she ordered firmly. "I want a nice, clean game from all of you – every last one of you." Then she grabbed the quaffle and threw it into the air. My heart flopped and my teeth clenched. I would have to catch it before any of the Gryffindors.

"The Quaffle is released …." Lee Jordan exclaimed breathlessly, "AND THE GAME BEGINS!"

The _Comet _burst forward with a sudden blast of action, but as quickly as it had, Gryffindor Angelina Johnson punched me out of the way and seized the quaffle. She swirled towards the Ravenclaw goal posts, followed by all four of the Ravenclaw chasers.

"And the quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. What a good chaser she is!" Lee burst out.

I could not hold it in! If he thought she was a good chaser, she was bound to score a goal, and I had to steal the quaffle! The _Comet _swooped away from the other Ravenclaw chasers, and soon I was level with Angelina Johnson as we tore up the pitch.

I resumed speed and pulled ahead of her. She slowly grew smaller behind me – then I stopped and blocked her. My heart pounded in the excitement of the game. Angelina's _Chudley 2001 _tried to swerve me, but the _Comet _was faster. I crashed into her and sent the quaffle spinning away. She wobbled on her broom but hung in the air, growling at me, and then went speeding after the other Gryffindors.

The Quaffle fell quickly. I noticed a flash of red streaking towards it, a Gryffindor, but I darted forward and knocked her out of the way, and the quaffle was caught immediately by Katie Bell. The Ravenclaw crowd gave a roar of shrieking and cheering as the Gryffindor team moaned and booed.

Lee Jordan was finding it hard to commentate now that Ravenclaw had the quaffle, but kept up his spirits. After all, who couldn't be excited during the action of a Quidditch game?

"Okay, Katie Bell flying for Ravenclaw, ripping towards the goalposts, Gryffindor beater Gordon Turner shoots a bludger at her, Katie ducks … swoops out of the reach of Gryffindor Madeline Humor, she's going to score! Ducks a second bludger, come on now Gryffindor Keeper Marjorie, save it…"

But Katie Bell shot the first goal of the game, and the Ravenclaw team leapt up and down hugging and shrieking with joy. Lee Jordan booed so badly that Mrs. McGonagall tugged the magical megaphone away from him for a while.

The quaffle fell silently away from the hoop, and there was a rush of wind as three players swooped to get it. One was Angelina Johnson. The others Veronika and I. My broom gained speed and blocked Angelina's; then I grabbed the quaffle. The big ball felt smooth and difficult to hold in my arms, but I managed to keep hold of it. The _Comet _ducked out of the way as two Gryffindor chasers and a bludger shot towards me. It was difficult to hold the big ball and concentrate on who was chasing me, so the only way my eyes could look was forwards if I was going to score. My eyes scanned the field for other players trying to steal the quaffle from me, when suddenly I noticed I was flying far too close to the Ravenclaw viewing area! I pulled the _Comet _swiftly away from the colourful walls, only to hear a gasp from the Ravenclaw crowd. I looked up for a brief second and saw frightened faces. Bravely, I swung my head over my back, seeing Angelina Johnson and a Gryffindor beater, club raised, following me. In front of me came the other beater!

WHOOSH! A bludger, shot by the beater behind me, sliced forward, just missing my head as the _Comet _dipped down. I was winning, I was beating them, the _Comet _was too fast … WHOOSH! This time the other bludger, and the Gryffindors were gaining on me. My heart beat fast as I realized I had to think quickly. I leaned down on the _Comet's_ handle so I would slide faster through the air, and then tilted the _Comet _downwards. I swerved out of the way, but Angelina and the beater behind me had been going too fast to catch up with my incredible broom, and could not stop. Several Ravenclaw chasers shot out of the way as Angelina Johnson went tumbling out of control. It took her several moments to get her broom back to normal speed before she could chase me. As for the beaters – they collided with a smash, both clubs bonking into each other, but recovered quickly.

I was once again out of reach of the other team's players; when I looked behind me there was a slight glimpse of a new Gryffindor chaser with a short, curly nut-brown ponytail on her back, presumably Madeline Humor. I gained speed and she faded away behind me. I looked above and below me for signs of bludgers or beaters, but only saw Veronika and some other Ravenclaw chasers – in fact, all of them. They were trying to keep me safe, ready to tackle any other Gryffindors willing to take me on.

I was tearing up the pitch, ripping through the skies, ground speeding below me. It felt like I was charging against the wind. The Gryffindor goalposts and scoring area came into view – and so did the other Gryffindors.

I needed to score this goal, or else Gryffindor might steal the quaffle and score against us. I heard millions of applauses and roaring cheers from the Ravenclaw side, but in front of me, the thousands of people dressed in bright red booed and jeered.

I focused on the Gryffindor keeper in front of me, a girl not much older than fourteen. But she looked tough; she was in her fourth year and had been on the team a lot longer than I had. Her broom was right in front of the goal – how could I ever score?

There were the two other hoops – but they were smaller and only worth five points, so they didn't matter much. I wanted to get Ravenclaw as many points as possible – between my thoughts I ducked a bludger – before the snitch was caught, so we could win even if Bradley didn't catch the snitch. I was willing to take chances, knowing that if I missed and the quaffle only shot the girl's broom, it would only bounce right off. It seemed all the chasers, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, had gathered around the hoop, waiting to catch the quaffle. I sped forwards to shoot a goal.

Of course all the Gryffindors wanted to prevent this from happening, so the three girl chasers torpedoed forwards, two slicing above me and one below. They all missed, but dove in for another shot. But the _Comet _was soon out of their reach. I was meters away from the goalposts, the teams were spreading out … if I missed … should I just throw to another Ravenclaw like Brandee Tresant or Katie Bell, so they could try to get a goal? They were in their third and second years, and had been on the Quidditch team for longer than I had…

With a powerful thrust of my arm I threw the quaffle towards the hoop. The Gryffindor keeper dove down to block the quaffle, the team chasers all rocketed forwards, there was cheering from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sides, and then…

"RAVENCLAW SCORES! Valerina Tristont gives Ravenclaw house ten points, leaving Gryffindor 20-0!" Lee Jordan whooped, glancing nervously at Mrs. McGonagall. The Ravenclaw team gave an outburst of cheering as I swooped around the Gryffindor goalposts, knocked the Quaffle towards Katie, and sped back to the Ravenclaw area.

We were winning, and it was all thanks to our talent and our wonderful brooms. Katie Bell sped off with the quaffle, and then –

"Katie Bell for Ravenclaw tearing up the pitch with a quaffle – oh, and it's GRYFFINDOR in possession, second year Madeline Humor roaring towards the Ravenclaw scoring area, ducks a bludger and two Ravenclaw chasers, all's going well," Lee Jordan shouted.

I slammed my fist against the air and then sped out in the direction of Madeline Humor. I didn't want her to score, so I would have to steal the Quaffle from her hands. She was not much older than me, only about eleven, and I could take her on easily. Angelina Johnson was a fourth year, and I had nearly thrown her off her broom.

My _Comet _was no match for the other Gryffindors that flung themselves at me, hoping to knock me off course, and I could have sped easily past Madeline Humor, except that I needed to stay level with her in order to catch the quaffle. I slowed down on the _Comet, _trying to stay even with her _High Whizzer _broom. But I kept pulling ahead.

"Hey, first year!" yelled a strong, gravely voice from behind me. I glanced behind me in horror and saw Bruce Turner, a Gryffindor beater, ramming his bat against the bludger and shooting it at me. I did what I normally did – ducked. But as I ducked, Madeline flew out of my reach. I was not injured, but Madeline was going to score if the other chasers didn't do something!

I couldn't let Gryffindor score; it wasn't my house! I heard the chortling laughter of Bruce Turner behind me: "Wrong move there, mate!" and heard his chuckles as he sped away, but I had to stop Madeline. I urged the speed on my _Comet _up and it blasted forwards like a cannon shot from a cannonball shooter. **(Okay….?) **It was my first year and my first match, but I was getting the hang of Quidditch. You had to stay alert and duck at the right times; swerve at the right times. Quidditch certainly was as exciting as I had imagined!

I soared above the others, even higher than the goalposts, and instantly realized in disappointment that Madeline was aiming at the Ravenclaw hoops. I could never take the quaffle now, but our only hope was that Alicia McTamble stopped the quaffle.

I swirled down, wind whistling all around me, and turned towards the Ravenclaw goalposts. The speed of the _Comet _made everything around me seem like a blur of red and blue and green and all the colors around me, but I could still tell who was a Gryffindor and who wasn't.

Alicia McTamble wouldn't let the quaffle past and through the hoop, to my relief. The big red ball soared smoothly through the air, diving towards the hoop. Alicia swung her broom around and it struck the quaffle, shooting it away.

I and the other Ravenclaw chasers shot after it; Brandee was just about to snatch it, when an unfamiliar hand seized it – Gryffindor Adrianna Pucey.

My heart throbbing worriedly, I streaked like a real blue comet after Adrianna. The _Comet _was gaining speed with her, but she pulled slowly ahead. For a moment I could feel the powerful wind from her broom crashing against me, but I slipped after her. She had the quaffle wrapped tightly in her arms; she would not let it go by accident.

I lunged ahead of her, watching her broom gain on me, and when she was even, I smashed into her, but she only tipped to one side and punched my broom away. Evidently it left no mark at all. She would not be easy to take the quaffle from.

I gained the _Comet's _speed and sped swiftly after Adrianna Pucey. She saw me again and the tail of her _Silver Climber _swirled impressively out of sight. Then, a sudden gasp and cry from Lee Jordan made her drop the quaffle; she was so surprised. "Well, you're not going to score a goal like that," I mumbled, but his following words caught my attention – "Was that the snitch?"

I was suddenly spinning out of control as the Gryffindor seeker, a Japanese boy named Timothy Yang, barrelled past me, then a flash of blue – Bradley. But I swung the _Comet _around and after the seekers bravely. I wanted to block Timothy,

WHOOSH! A bludger came pelting out of nowhere, shot from Ravenclaw Bradley Tamble, and it shot the Gryffindor seeker off course but missed me and Bradley. The two hundred people dressed in red behind the Gryffindor goalposts moaned and booed, but there was deafening applause for Bradley Tamble from the Ravenclaw side. Sadia, the other beater, sliced out of nowhere and directed the bludger for Madeline Humor and Angelina Johnson with a slice of her broom.

That was enough misfortune for Timothy Yang, so instead I flew to where the dropped quaffle had landed. A flash of blue swooped by below me and scooped up the quaffle, then plummeted upwards **(is that even possible?)** towards the Gryffindor goalposts. I saw long blonde hair and a thin, twisted braid and realized it was chaser Brandee Tresant, Veronika's third-year sister. I zipped after her as a bodyguard, ready to conquer any Gryffindor chaser who was trying to attack her. I would be scared too if I was on the other team – even though I was quite good, Brandee was very good.

A flash of red on her left side and diving at her from above told me that there were Gryffindors to fend off, but they scattered nervously when they saw the _Comet. _If we scored this goal, we were 30 to nothing. I ducked a bludger and Brandee ducked as well just in time, and Sadia floated up, club raised, and shot it towards the Gryffindors. Their goalposts were just coming up, when Brandee threw it at the hoops. I gasped – she was meters away and definitely would not score – or the Quaffle could be caught by a Gryffindor! I charged forward, capes flapping, and chased away a Gryffindor chaser. Glancing over my shoulder, I could tell that Brandee would not score. The quaffle wasn't heading for the big ten point hoop, but it wasn't aimed for the small ones either. I put on a short burst of speed and flashed towards the goalposts, knocking the quaffle back on course with the end of my broomstick. The Gryffindor keeper dove, trying to shoot the quaffle away, but she missed and the quaffle went flying through the goalposts, followed by an explosion of cheers, chants, and waving flags from the Ravenclaw crowd.

The Ravenclaw team, including I, punched the air; then Veronika soared back to where the quaffle was. My heart leapt and skipped a beat as Madeline Humor dove forward, but Veronika's _Shooting Star _outmatched Madeline Humor's _High Whizzer _and she ducked a bludger, blocked Angelina Johnson, and stole the quaffle. Then, readily prepared, the Ravenclaw team swooped out, ready for action, to meet any tricks their opponents had prepared.

Veronika and I rocketed up the stadium, encouraged by the millions of cheers below me. Air crashed at our sides. I tilted the _Comet Power _slightly so that it ducked Adrianna Pucey and, trying out my broom's comet-like power, I jolted upwards. That was enough – it sent Adrianna tumbling off course.

Katie Bell and Brandee Tresant followed us. My heart gleamed high. I remembered what Bradley Tamble had said: _this is the best team we've had in years. _I knew it was true. The Gryffindor team hadn't scored any goals, we were smarter and faster than them, and their best player, Angelina Johnson, almost got knocked off her broom by a first-year!

Gryffindor beater Bruce Turner shot a bludger at Sadia, but she was far too smart. Cleverly, she dipped her _Shooting Star _so that it tipped slightly, then rolled upside down in the air, the end of her bat waving in case the other bludger came unnoticed. She was just up on her broom in time so that she could glide over to Bradley Labont and shoot the bludger away from him.

I heard a roaring sound behind me and frantically saw that Angelina Johnson was right behind me! Another WHOOSH to my front and Madeline Humor was sailing towards me on her _High Whizzer! _Desperately, I shot downwards, and at my last attempt, flew right under Madeline Humor and threw the quaffle to Katie Bell, who rose out of Adrianna Pucey's way and snatched the quaffle, then soared over to the Gryffindor goalposts.

"Ha, ha!" laughed a voice – Veronika coasting up on her _Shooting Star. _"You'll have to wake up earlier than that if you want to catch a _Comet Power Sixty Two!" _

My eyes beamed with joy as Katie sped away. We were not only fast and experienced, but we used great teamwork as well. The Gryffindor team only tried to fly fast and steal the quaffle, but we were in the right spots when we knew we should be, blocked other players quickly, and all this required a great deal of working together.

I sped like a charging train after Katie Bell, in case anybody tried to steal the quaffle. I didn't want Gryffindor to get even one goal, because if they made it to 150 goals before we did, Gryffindor would win. My heart clenched, and then bucked upwards to block Adrianna Pucey. But when I looked back at her, she was grinning.

"Well, the little _Comet _doesn't look too powerful after all!" she sneered, then blasted over me and turned past Katie – who no longer had the quaffle! My stomach hurtled as I saw Madeline Humor heading towards the Ravenclaw goalposts – with the quaffle! I followed the same route as Adrianna Pucey.

Adrianna was riding a _Silver Climber, _so it was slightly difficult for me to catch up with her. I almost shrieked in fury as she punched out her hand and barrelled past me, but I pulled ahead of her and crashed at her so that she would be dazed for a few moments before she could follow.

I was now even with Madeline Humor, but I had no need to be right beside her, so I flew straight ahead to block her. Suddenly – a bludger hurtled at me and I ducked, but Madeline had gotten ahead! I gained the _Comet's _power and pelted forwards, but I hovered frozen in fear as I saw Alicia McTamble drop at her attempt to block the goal, and the quaffle went spinning through. Madeline punched the air in delight as Lee Jordan whooped, "GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"

My fists clenched, and I saw the Gryffindor crowd screech with joy and even one sneering something awful at Ravenclaw. I couldn't let them get another goal.

I raced behind the Ravenclaw goalposts and seized the quaffle before any of the other Gryffindor chasers, who glared at me, then darted after me. The whole world spun around beside me.

"And it's Valerina Tristont on her _Comet Power Sixty Two _flying for Ravenclaw, grabs the quaffle, ducks a bludger shot by a Gryffindor beater, can't tell which, bludger directed at the beater by Sadia Mueslin of Ravenclaw, Valerina still heading towards the Gryffindor goalposts, she's really flying like a raven up there … still hangs onto the quaffle, Angelina Johnson dives at her, she swerves around Johnson and tears towards the goalposts, Angelina chasing her, darts around her, blocks her – knock her off her broom, Angelina!"

_Knock her off her broom indeed,_ I thought angrily. If he thought she could knock me off my broom, I would have to find a way to get her out of the way once and for all. I had an idea – I would smash into her so that she would lose track of me. Backing up slowly amidst the excitement of the game, I spread out my plan – to smash into Angelina and push her out of the way. This would hurt me too – but it wasn't against the rules and I needed to get rid of some of the Gryffindors. Still, I hoped it wouldn't hurt her severely.

With an encouraging battle cry, I showed no sign of stopping as I ripped towards her. I could hardly see anything around me except for blurs and I could hear nothing but the wind coming from my broom. Suddenly, I smashed into something small and soft, like robes flapping, and a smash ten meters below me told me I had done my job. Slowing down the _Comet's _speed, I saw Angelina lying sprawled in a heap on the ground. Her broom was still beside her. Her head looked up and she glared at me, but her wrist was too sprained to shake it. My heart lurched. This was my first time I had hurt somebody – but this was Quidditch, and the ground terrain was soft. Besides, there were countless other reasons – the nurse could mend bones in an instant, and Bradley expected me to knock people off their brooms. A Quidditch game was no time to be a lady. Quidditch was a rough game.

If she gets mad at me after the game, I thought, I'll say I didn't mean to knock her off her broom **(**_**sure **_**you didn't)**. That wouldn't be a lie, because I hadn't. I just wanted to shoot her off course, **(yeah sure, tell it to the judge)** but the _Comet _had been too powerful.

Once they saw what had happened, the Gryffindor crowd was furious. "Foul! That's a foul! That was a trick! Tricks and fouls aren't allowed in Quidditch! Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

A teacher snatched the microphone from the scowling Gryffindor Lee Johnson, and yelled into it, "Just because somebody knocks somebody else off their broom, doesn't mean it's a foul. **(Yeah, it does, actually…) **It's a good trick and often used. And tricks are allowed in Quidditch! It would only be a foul if Valerina grabbed Angelina and threw her off her broom, which she didn't."

Then she gave the microphone back to Lee to keep commentating.

But Lee Jordan, who was a Gryffindor, felt sorry for Angelina Johnson, and wanted to visit her in the hospital while Madame Pomfrey magically mended her twisted wrist. He begged to be let free to go to the hospital wing, and finally Mrs. McGonagall let him go and called for some of the other prefects to commentate.

I hovered in the spot, staring down at the teacher's tower, hoping that it would be a Ravenclaw who was chosen. My heart thumped, and then Mrs. McGonagall yelled, "Kalinka Wispan, how about you?"

She took the job.

My heart swooped and shone like a sunbeam as I whirled around three times in the air, then flew back to cheer with Katie, Brandee and Veronika. She would cheer for us, and wave a blue Ravenclaw flag, and rejoice if we won. I could see the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff crowds were joyful too; they were waving and yelling, and I could see Pamella and Pansy among the crowds, screeching with delight.

Kalinka sat down and the game was resumed. I hardly had time to duck as Madeline Humor swept down on me, tearing the quaffle out of my arms and barrelling towards the Ravenclaw goalposts. The slight wind from her broom only encouraged me on as I sailed up to her. When we were flying side to side, trying to smash into each other, I realized that her teeth were bared and she was scowling.

"Friend of Johnson's?" I asked coolly.

"You're no friend of mine, you foolish fool! And you just watch your mouth and watch what you do, because you don't know anything about Quidditch!" she hollered, and I was sure Veronika heard because she dove in alongside of Madeline.

"Yeah, yeah, Ravenclaws?" the short-haired girl screamed. "You couldn't knock me of my broom if you tried, you babies! _No _Ravenclaw can, but a Gryffindor could easily knock you off your broom! You think you're so good, then you challenge Adrianna Pucey! She'll pummel you into the ground with more power than your silly _Comet Power! _It should be called _dirt _power! There's no _way _you can win!"

But, I realized, there was no way she could escape us. We were surrounding her completely. I could see the fear in Madeline's eyes – she had to make a difficult choice: either to give the quaffle up or be thrown off her broom by Veronika and I. She slowly tried to pull ahead, when I realized she was going to try and direct us off course with a whack of her broomstick!

I tried to pull up, but I realized we had flown into a narrow gap between the pitch and the viewing towers, which were held up by wooden stilts – strong ones, so we had no worry of the tower collapsing on us. But it was slightly likely that I had nowhere to fly but forwards!

Kalinka Wispan heard the crashing and whooshing below her and glanced around the pitch, then downwards. She stared into the gap and saw a glimpse of Veronika's pigtails and my red hair, and Madeline in the middle.

"Knock her off her brook if you have to, Valerina and Veronika!" she exclaimed brightly.

Ah – another good idea. Veronika and I both squeezed so hard on Madeline Humor that she had no chance of breaking free. I punched the quaffle out of her flailing arms, and she lost grip of her broom, suddenly feeling a big space between her arms and her broom where the quaffle had been. I realized her whole body had been resting on the ball; without it there was no way for her to support herself.

Another big shove from me, Veronika ducked and Madeline Humor was thrown from her broom and bounced violently onto the pitch, her broom flinging onto the grass. She was not very hurt.

**(A/N: the very first draft of the story says that Madeline "was hurt," but in my final draft before the story was officially completed in 2004 (I was eleven) I added in the words "not very," because I didn't want Valerina to seem so mean. Looking back over it, the whole chapter just seems to emphasize the point that she is a **_**very **_**dirty player whose actions would certainly grant Gryffindor many penalty shots were this an actual Quidditch game written my J.K. Rowling.)**

"_FOUL!" _shrieked the Gryffindors at the top of their lungs.

"Honestly!" I heard Kalinka spit into the microphone, then, "Don't you know anything about fouls? A foul isn't if somebody gets knocked off his or her broom. That was completely natural!"

Some first year Gryffindors burst into tears. "Bad sports," I snarled under my breath.

Then we noticed the Gryffindor beaters, Gordon and Bruce Turner, circling around Madeline Humor in case any Ravenclaws tried to shoot a bludger at her body. "Wrong move!" Katie Bell yelled at them, but the beaters paid no attention. So at once all of theRavenclaw team cheered with joy and seized the quaffle, changing direction and rocketing towards the Gryffindor goalposts, and the Ravenclaw crowd burst into wild shrieks and yells of happiness. The game was resumed!

Pamella and Pansy hugged and hugged at Ravenclaw's victory, wiping the smirk off Diane's face. She was no Gryffindor, but any match against Ravenclaw she wanted Ravenclaw to lose – except if we played Hufflepuff. That was different – she hated Hufflepuff too. I guess she would hope everybody got knocked off their brooms and the match was cancelled.

Kalinka Wispan waved her arms in the air, flaring the bright blue flags with a black Raven on them, and whooping wildly. The Gryffindor team circled above Madeline, hoping she was not hurt too seriously – which she wasn't – but Ravenclaw scored another point past the Gryffindor keeper. The weather at the beginning of the match had been cool and cloudy, but now the heat of the day was tiring out the Gryffindors, and they only had one chaser left – Adrianna Pucey.

"ANOTHER GOAL FOR RAVENCLAW!" Kalinka Wispan shouted into the microphone when she saw us scoring another goal. "RAVENCLAW NOW HAVE 40 POINTS, NEXT TO GRYFFINDOR'S TEN!"

We gathered together, cheering and grinning, and prepared our next plan, then swooped away. We had the quaffle; we could easily score another goal.

"Okay, Ravenclaw in possession, no Gryffindor in possession and it's Adrianna Pucey – no, back to Ravenclaw and it's Veronika Tresant with the quaffle, come on now Veronika, shoot some points, okay, nice swerve around Adrianna Pucey, she soars over a Gryffindor beater and ducks out of reach of a bludger, come on, you can do it, she's really flying like an eagle up there, punches Adrianna Pucey out of the way – no, not really punches, Professor – Pucey recovers and she's going to sneak the quaffle away … no, GOOD JOB VERONIKA! Veronika ducks out of the way and sails around Pucey, Pucey catches up, and they're even, COME ON VERONIKA, GET HER OUT OF YOUR WAY! Okay … Pucey reaches for Tresant; she's going to knock her off her broom – duck, Veronika! – Oh, COME ON, Adrianna Pucey! She only poked her in the eye – you've got to do more than that if you want to catch up with a _Shooting Star! _Veronika pulls ahead and out of reach of Pucey … nice swerve around beater Turner, she ducks a bludger, she's – going – to – score! Tresant throws the quaffle, keeper Marjorie Chortle dives … misses – RAVENCLAW SCORE!"

The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff crowd roared with delight as Gryffindor moaned and sighed. As the Gryffindor team sighed and didn't pay attention, we were planning our next goal. Veronika soared around to retrieve the quaffle, but my heart skipped a beat as Bruce Turner, the Gryffindor beater, shot a bludger at her! Veronika noticed just in time and Sadia appeared out of nowhere and shot it back at the beater, but it missed off course and rammed into the Gryffindor keeper, who fell through the hoop! **(Another foul.)**

"Ooh, flying like an eagle sure pays off, Veronika – whoa, YES! They've got the keeper!" Kalinka exclaimed, followed by an ecstatic roar from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff crowds. Millions of flags flared blue and silver in the air, but the Gryffindor and Slytherin crowds had enough. They booed, jeered, and even teased, shouting at Ravenclaw. But it was fair – we had fifty points. We were winning.

One little Gryffindor girl in the front row with a face that looked like a weasel's sobbed with giant tears. "That had to be a foul! Ohhh, that was terrible! She shot a bludger at the keeper! Ooooohhhhh!" She doesn't know anything about Quidditch, I thought.

Kalinka Wispan ignored her; it wasn't a foul. Veronika threw the quaffle to Katie Bell, but Adrianna barrelled her out of the way and seized it. She ducked her way past bludgers, beaters and chasers and threw the quaffle at our goalposts, but she was so angry she missed by a foot and Veronika seized the big red ball. Hovering in front of the hoops, Alicia McTamble punched the air in delight.

The Gryffindor crowd swore and roared with anger, but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff made their cheers louder. The Gryffindor team were losing their concentration in the heat of the day, and the match had gone on for over an hour. We were sure to win – unless Timothy Yang caught the snitch.

Veronika swooshed towards the Gryffindor goalposts. Three Gryffindors – Adrianna and the beaters – hurled themselves at her, but she ducked and dodged, swerving a bludger. Suddenly, the losing Gryffindor team gained control of the quaffle, punching it out of Veronika's grip. In anger she called all of the Ravenclaw team, apart from the seeker and the keeper, and we formed a large V shape, flying forwards to block Adrianna Pucey, who had the quaffle. She glared back at us, then forwards, gripping the smooth ball as hard as she could. Her _Silver Climber _grew faster.

I urged the speed on my Comet, and instantly I burst forwards, showing off the restless energy of my broom. It sure was doing its job. Adrianna saw me barrelling past her, and saw she was surrounded. Showing no fear, she urged her broom onwards, knowing she was the only chaser left on the Gryffindor team and therefore could not throw it to anybody. She put on a short burst of speed, but the _Silver Climber's_ hours of victory were over. The _Comet_ was far too fast, and I blocked her, grabbing the quaffle. We chased each other towards the Gryffindor goalposts, but she could not catch up. I threw the big red ball through the goalposts, remembering there was no keeper.

"Ravenclaw scores! They leave Gryffindor 60 – 10!" Kalinka Wispan yelled in excitement, waving a small blue flag. The Ravenclaw crowd shrieked with applause, and Pamella bent forward waving her flags so far I rushed over, worried she'd topple over the side. But she was okay.

"That was a foul; she blocked her, she could have knocked Adrianna right out of the air!" cried the little girl again, but this time Mrs. McGonagall had to come over to her and explain to her the rules of Quidditch. Blocking somebody certainly wasn't a foul.

We were winning, only a few more goals and we would win even if Bradley didn't catch the snitch. As I cheered and yelled with joy, a reserve keeper, Paige Talbot, was called onto the pitch. In surprise I realized it was the whiny girl and she was still crying and screaming as she hovered in the air above the hoop. Her long, frizzy blonde hair kept blowing in her face; she wouldn't be able to save any goals because she couldn't see.

The _Comet _climbed victoriously into the air, and from my lofty altitude I could see everything – the Gryffindor beaters fighting over who would get to shoot the bludger at Bradley Labont, Katie Bell and Veronika planning a surprise attack on Adrianna Pucey, the two seekers chasing the snitch viciously. Then a terrible thought struck me – if Timothy Yang caught the snitch first, we would lose!

"Veronika! Sadia! Over here!" I cried. Their _Shooting Star _brooms rose up level to mine. "We have to distract their seeker," I whispered to my friends, staring nervously at the two seekers, one dressed in sky blue and one dressed in blood red.

"But I'm not a chaser!" exclaimed Sadia.

"So what?" I snapped. "If Timothy catches the snitch we're steamrollered by Gryffindor. We don't need beaters now. You can serve as a chaser," I added. "Let's do it."

One by one, we swooped down to almost the bottom of the pitch, where the two seekers were fighting. Both of them were level, arms outstretched for the snitch. Timothy Yang looked up and fearfully saw us coming. "Ravenclaws!" he shrieked. I smothered a giggle.

Suddenly, a smacking sound and a whoosh of air made me turn my attention to the Gryffindor team. My heart dropped in terror. One of the Gryffindor beaters had slammed his bat across a bludger and aimed it at Bradley!

"This will take care of that Ravenclaw seeker!" he laughed to his fellow beater. I was worried – if I didn't act quickly, Bradley would get knocked off his broom and Gryffindor would win because we'd lost our seeker!

I dove down to protect Bradley from the bludger, air rushing by me on either side. I pulled ahead of the beaters, and a sudden WHOOSH beside me alerted me that the bludger was beside me. Heart flopping, I plunged into an awkward half-twist to avoid the bludger, then resumed speed. It was still roaring and crashing behind me, and I didn't have time to look back.

The bludger tore towards Bradley Labont, and at my last attempt, I dove defensively in front of the Ravenclaw seeker and took the bludger myself.

White-hot pain surged through me like a stampede of cows as the bludger ripped at my capes. Everything was going by in slow motion. I felt my body disable with pain, my arms crumple and my fingers loosen around the broomstick. My legs lost their grip and dangled from the broom. Amidst all the wild roaring, cheering and announcing, I waited to fall from my broom like Madeline Humor, Angelina Johnson and Marjorie Chortle, waited for Kalinka to call "GRYFFINDOR WINS!" and the Ravenclaw team groan, waited to fall into blackness.

But it never came.

I was hurt and my arms were limp and wounded, but I felt too strong. Instantly, the pain was sucked out of my arm like juice through a straw, and I triumphantly swung back onto my broom. But I was too confused. What had happened there? Why hadn't I fallen to the ground? Everything was moving slowly, and it was hazy and confusing. I glanced around, but only saw a faint blue glimmer – just like in my dream! Was the LINK of Ravenclaw helping me?

My thoughts were pushed ahead as another glimmer, a yellow one, shot past me, then a bundle of blue capes and blonde, bushy hair. My heart leapt in excitement – Gryffindor hadn't won yet! Bradley was still chasing the snitch! In a second's time, I saw his fingers close around the cold, struggling snitch, then –

"RAVENCLAW WINS!"

My body glowed with joy and happiness and pride altogether. My smile could not have been wider, and tears almost squeezed out of my shining eyes as I hovered, entranced, in one spot, watching Bradley soar above the goalposts, the snitch in his hand. What remained of the Gryffindor team burst into groans that sounded almost like sobs; the Gryffindor and Slytherin crowds pounded their foreheads with their fists; the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff crowds went wild, struck with excitement. It all happened so quickly – Kalinka Wispan screaming with delight, Pansy and Pamella shrieking from above, "YOU DID IT!," Veronika and Sadia thumping their hands on my back, Diane glaring stubbornly at me, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw shouting,

"_Win, win, Ravenclaw!_

_Fly, fly, Ravenclaw!_

_You can beat the odds!_

_You can beat any house you're against!_

_Yeah, Ravenclaw!"_

And, yelling hoarsely, the Ravenclaw team sank back to earth in a many-armed hug.

***

We could still hear the chanting and cheering ringing in our ears as we changed back into our normal black robes in the Ravenclaw planning hut. The bright blue banners trimming the ceiling had never looked so vivid, and even the wind seemed to whistle and pipe with joy. We were still hugging and shouting out the day's exciting events. There would be no classes this afternoon; it was a Quidditch day; but there was much partying to do later in the Ravenclaw common room.

Hands were still raining down on my back; people were still hugging me. "That bludger would have hit Bradley," Sadia giggled, squeezing me tightly.

Once we had all dressed into our black robes, we would spend five minutes in the hut discussing skilled Quidditch moves. But Bradley had other plans – he thought we were so good that we could take a break and discuss the excitement of today's game.

"Great game, team, we deserved that win!" Bradley beamed. "This was the best team we've had in years, maybe ever had. Did you see the way Valerina and Veronika beat that Madeline Humor?"

The whole team chuckled a bit.

Veronika took my arms and led me into a corner where Sadia was waiting. While the rest of the team chortled and laughed, Veronika said seriously, "Valerina, don't you think it's a little odd that you didn't fall off your broom – I mean, you're a great flier, it's just – no, you're really very good, no offence, but" –

"Yeah, but it was great that I didn't!" I laughed, patting her on the back. "You were brilliant too, both of you."

Veronika's eyes looked dull and solemn. "But – but Valerina, this is bad."

"I don't get it!" I piped up, confused. "What's so bad about me not breaking my neck, about me not falling off my broom?"

"That's where it got out of hand!" Sadia gasped. "You must have been protected by good magic, really strong good magic, which is great, except for this: if you're _defended _by really good magic"-

"You must be _hated_ by really bad, sinister magic!" Veronika exclaimed. "What if the bad magic is too strong – what if it destroys you completely?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, although I was a little scared. "We'll talk about that later, when we work on the jobberix. Right now, let's celebrate!"

Alicia McTamble leapt in front of us and yelled, "Come on, party at Ravenclaw tower! Begins five o'clock!" Then she sprinted away after the rest of the team, followed by Veronika, Sadia and I.

Suddenly somebody grabbed my arm. My heart skipped a beat – was it Diane? But my thoughts were answered by a soft, proud voice.

It was Bradley Labont.

"You know what, Valerina?" he asked.

"What?"

"Remember my Quidditch superstar, Cherry Chang?"

"Yes."

"Remember how good I said she was? I just wanted to say – after the way you defended me from the bludger, I declare you … the Cherry Chang of the present. That's how good you are."

I didn't know what to say.

***

The party at Ravenclaw tower was wonderful. When the Ravenclaw team reached the common room, there was a great feast of sugary candy laid out for all of Ravenclaw. The others welcomed us with great applause and cheering. Everybody was surrounding me, jumping up and down and laughing. I couldn't say anything, but I was deafened by Pamella's shriek and crushed by Pansy's hug.

"You did it! You just flattened those Gryffindors!" Pamella beamed.

"You couldn't have played better!" Pansy cried, then hugged me again.

"I saw everything! You were great!"

"What a superstar! Knocked a second-year and a fourth-year off their brooms!"

"You steamrollered Gryffindor!"

"Valerina, you're the best Quidditch player in history!"

"Well, Sadia and Veronika were great too. Go tell them so!" I told Rebecca, the girl whom I had saved from the wild broom, who was now tugging eagerly on my cape.

The Ravenclaw team was awarded with more thanks than they needed, and we had to push our way through the crowd to reach an empty space. They chanted and cheered the same song they had when Ravenclaw had been declared the Quidditch match winner, and then showed us all the candy they had received from Madame Hooch, who was almost near to crying with joy.

There were sweet, every-flavoured Mooncraters, little round candies packaged onto cardboard sticks so you could pick them off individually and eat them. There were gummy worms which were so chewy you could hardly eat them without getting lumps stuck to your teeth, and packages of chocolate wizards' hats. There were giant boxes of caramel-, vanilla-, and chocolate-flavoured taffies, and giant, round chocolate balls filled with strawberry mousse and clotted cream. There were giant chocolate sherbet balls that made you float a few inches off the ground after you ate one, and tiny black pepper imps which I did not like much; they were too spicy. There was chocolate and caramel twisted into every shape that you could imagine, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. All sorts of different candies were lined up in rows: glistening pink coconut squares … Ice Mice (hear your teeth chatter and squeak) … peppermint creams shaped like toads (hop realistically in your stomach)… Fizzing Whizzbees (feel the gummy bees whizz and fizz inside you) and exploding fruity sweets (feel them explode with a fruity sweetness inside your mouth!) Everything looked mouth watering and lavish.

We partied wildly into the night, and I thought for sure we would have rotten teeth when we woke up because we ate so much candy. When you weren't eating, you were playing, dancing, or reciting the day's big game. Pansy and Pamella provided the music for a while, singing and cheerleading and waving the banner of Ravenclaw. Everybody enjoyed themselves, and I couldn't believe that the bright, wild common room would tomorrow be a dark, lonely area where my friends and I plotted breeding an illegal bird. (Pansy wasn't in the jobberix group because we thought she was too young and might do something wrong or get hurt by the jobberix.)

But I hardly had time to think about that, because Veronika, mouth full of wizard's chocolate hats, offered me a small bag and I plopped down beside her on a couch to eat and talk about our favourite moves in the game; then Sadia grabbed our hands and pulled us into the dance. We clapped, sang, and twirled around the room, hardly noticing night was creeping on and we were making quite a commotion – and a mess. But that would wait until later.

Probably everyone's favourite candies were the chocolate sherbet balls, because everybody wanted to float a few inches off the ground. But things really got out of hand when Terry Boot grabbed the last one and used his want to make it hover into the air, so he could try and leap up and grab it. But in order for things to be bewitched to float, you need to wave your wand at them for at least a few minutes, which he didn't, and even before he could jump it fell down and splattered all over his face.

Pamella and the other Parkinsons – Pansy, Paisley, Charlotte, Susan and Marvin – stood up in front of the class and shouted out tons of cheers. Here they are:

"_Ravenclaw strikes again_

_Soaring o'er fields and plains_

_With all our wisdom and power_

_That Quidditch cup is ours!"_

Here's another one:

"_Win team win!_

_Fight team fight!_

_We're the Ravenclaws_

_And we're out of sight!_

_If you put your mind to it_

_And knock them off their brooms_

_Then you'll get that Quidditch cup_

_And you'll get it soon!"_

This one's Pamella's favourite:

"_2, 4, 6, 8_

_Who do we appreciate?_

_8, 6, 4, 2_

_Who does the Quidditch Cup belong to?_

_Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw! That's our team!_

_We use all our plans and schemes!_

_Yea, Ravenclaw!"_

The party turned into a rock and roll dance, and everybody was acting crazy and excited. People ran around screaming and yelling, candy was being thrown all over the place to act as balls in a fake game of Quidditch, and too many messy games were being played. Too many people played Exploding Snap and Gnombles, a game a little like marbles, except that the magical marbles shot an inky liquid all over a player's face whenever he or she lost a point. Lots of people dodged and the ink hit somebody else, someone's food, furniture, walls, or worst, the silky, well-spun tapestries. I had little time to dodge a stink pellet being used instead of a tiny marble in Exploding Snap. Then I tripped and fell on a jelly slug, squiring the liquid everywhere. It was becoming a mess, and midnight was coming on.

Finally, Madame Hooch burst in and exclaimed scornfully, "The party is over. There's a big mess and you're keeping the whole school awake. Yes, I am overjoyed that Ravenclaw won the match, but Kalinka, you're a _prefect! _You should do something!"

"Yes, Madame Hooch," Kalinka laughed, but she was too embarrassed to be solemn. "Okay," she ordered, "Let's all go up to the dormitories. We can quietly do our homework because we don't have to go to bed for half an hour. To bed at 12:00 sharp!"

I was still giggling and singing as we climbed into our bedrooms. All my homework was finished, but if it wasn't, I wouldn't see any harm in writing about the Golden Snidget…

Little did I know that the unexpected should be expected.


	11. Cowards, Accusations and Trolls Teeth

_Of Cowardly Teachers, Unfounded Accusations, and Troll's Teeth_

OR, The Phoenix and the Jobberknoll

**(A/N) Sorry it's been so long between updates, I've been trying out some ideas for new FanFictions which I may or may not continue. I will try to update this story more frequently. **

**Also, this is the chapter – pretty much the only one – which contains the T rated stuff. It's very brief, vague description in a sentence and really shouldn't be too much for anyone over the age of twelve; my sister said that, although it's kind of an adult theme, it could be still be rated K+. So if anyone who reviews thinks that my rating was a little harsh, just tell me and I'll lower it. **

**So for now, on with the show!**

November 1st, 2004

Even days after the Quidditch match ended, excitement still spread throughout the school, and it seemed everybody was rejoicing at Ravenclaw's victory. Every conversation seemed to be about Quidditch. Everywhere I went with Pamella, Veronika and Sadia, people were walking with us through the hallways, congratulating us. Even during classes, students would glance over at me and give me the thumbs up.

I had decided that Quidditch was one of my favourite things about school. **(No, **_**really?**_**) **All through the long, dull classes, my mind soared with memories from the Quidditch match. I couldn't believe I had to wait a month until Ravenclaw's next match, against Slytherin, and study, study, study every single day. I had learned that we were to read our reports about beasts up in front of the whole class in Identification of Fantastic Beasts, and I must read about the Snidget. But every time the Snidget was mentioned, I thought of Bradley's fingers closing around the snitch and Kalinka Wispan shouting, "Ravenclaw wins!" It was a temptation too irresistible.

Diane had sneered to me that I should drop out of the Quidditch team and pay more attention to my classes, but then I would just feel more uncomfortable. Diane didn't like Ravenclaw beating Gryffindor at Quidditch. **(Again, what was your first clue?)**

But I had something more important on my mind that Quidditch. Sadia kept reminding us that in a few weeks we would work on the jobberix. She just needed the phoenix feather and the jobberknoll feather. 

"The only place we'll get one of those each," Sadia told us one day when we were in the library looking for the LINK, "Is Professor Kettleburn's office. We're sure to find an easy way to take a few feathers without getting in big trouble. Let's say we need them for our new beast assignments, you know, those big posters? I'm doing phoenixes."

"I'm doing jobberknolls!" Veronika exclaimed. "Oh, Sadia, you're brilliant. We can do this whole thing without the teachers even knowing it happened. Oh, Sadia!"

"But," Pamella pointed out, "Kettleburn will want to see the feathers on our beast reports when we show them to him."

"We'll pluck a phoenix feather and a jobberknoll feather off the jobberix," Sadia explained brightly, tapping her fingers against her book lightly.

"Good idea," Pamella groaned. She hated the way Sadia always knew what to do in an instant.

"It's for our own good," I reminded.

Our plan was all spread out before us. In a few instants, we would have our next Beast class, and then we could sneak away a few feathers. Then, tonight, we could start on our plot.

The sharp voice of Madame Pince broke the silence, ringing throughout the whole library.

"Free studying time is over!" she announced shrilly. "All students will proceed to the next classes immediately."

Sadia's eyes sparkled with excitement as she shoved the book away and followed the other students out the door and to separate classrooms. "You know what that means!" She exclaimed, her fingers snapping. "We've got a whole night ahead of us to work on the jobberix. A whole night in the common room to discover what Diane's plotting."

"You talking about me?" snapped a voice. My spirits sank like a rock. None other than the curly-haired, sharp-eyed figure of Diane Prompton was slinking down the hallways towards us. Her arms were folded into her cape. Parvati and Lavender were behind her.

"You'd better bug off before the next Quidditch game, you brats," she snickered, "because we're going to steamroller you in the next match. Gryffindor were the real winners." **(My deluded mess of a FanFiction is probably the only place you'll ever hear a Slytherin say that last line!)**

"No!" hooted the voice of Lavender Brown beside her. "_Ravenclaw _were the real _losers, _Diane!"

"You nearly fell off your broom like a little baby when that scary bludger hit you!" Parvati shrieked. "Ooooo, I told you the bludgers were coming, ooooooh nooooo! I bet you screamed for your mommy!"

I put my hands on my hips and frowned. "Well, for you information, you know that I didn't scream, so don't bother us anymore," I snapped coolly, trying not to show the anger inside of me. But how could I say 'good game' to someone who had just teased me?

The shadowy, black-haired figure of Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house, stalked towards Parvati, but she didn't see him coming. He placed his hand firmly on her shoulder and spat coldly, "Play nicely, Parvati."

Parvati was startled, so startled that she leapt up in the air, shrieking, "Mommy! Mommy!" **(I refuse to comment.) **My friends and I stared at each other, smothering our laughter, but we sunk down, ashamed, when Snape glared at us with his icy stare.

"You had better get to your classes, young Ravenclaws," he snapped, then strode away. I stared for a long time at his capes flapping, and then walked on.

It was a few minutes before we reached Professor Kettleburn's room. It was a small, crowded place with a low roof, but it hardly looked like a classroom at all, more like a trapper's cabin. Small cages of every shape hung from the ceiling, which was made of mossy boards. All over the floor were long, wooden tables, in place of desks, with a few notebooks open to reveal their wrinkled yellow pages and some ink bottles and feather pens.

But that wasn't all – enormous cages were arranged on the tables in a neat arrangement so that every student got about one cage to themselves and one to share. Small animals slithered, crawled and scuttled around inside the bars – silver green lizards that kept changing sizes so many times it almost gave me a headache in the bigger cages, and large, silver-white animals curled up in balls in the largest. Each cage had a piece of wood next to it with the animal's name carved on it – the silver-green lizards were mokes; the silvery-white animals were mooncalves. Hedgehog-like creatures – knarls and puffeskins – were only spiky balls that sometimes uncoiled to reveal a small, furry head, and bright orange, poisonous-looking snails slithered up to the tops of their cages – streelers. Some desks even had tanks containing fish.

I chose a seat beside Pamella, in front of a small aviary with assorted perches and branches criss-crossing it. A snidget, which looked almost like the snitch itself, round and golden, sat on one of the perches, with a larger orange bird with dazzling plumage, called a fwooper, on the other. I sighed, remembering the Quidditch game and that I had to read about the snidget in class.

"Your attention, everybody!" exclaimed Professor Kettleburn, a lively man with a long, straight brown beard and bright, snapping eyes. He was dressed in a drooping, navy blue cloak splattered with creamy white moons and stars which gave him an especially magical look. "Today we will be reading our beast essays in class. Tomorrow I will grade you on how well your essays were presented and how much information you had. Now, when I call your name, you will come up to the front of the classroom and read the essay you were assigned to. Now, Hannah Abbott, come up and read about the Ashwinder!"

Hannah, a shy Hufflepuff with drooping blonde pigtails, strode nervously up to the front of the class and pulled a wrinkled piece of paper out of a book. The book fell open to a picture of a sea monster with a gaping mouth and a whipping tail.

Professor Kettleburn's eyes widened with fear as he glanced fearfully at the picture. I frowned, confused.

"I know that picture _is _ferocious-looking," I whispered to Pamella, "but Kettleburn's our beast teacher. He's dealt with lots of beasts, including sea monsters. I don't see why he's so worried about that little drawing."

"Beats me," Pamella shrugged. "Maybe he got bitten by one?" she joked. "Did you notice the great big bloody scratch on his arm?"

My heart skipped a beat and my mouth gaped. It couldn't be … I had an idea about the LINK'S Enemy! I couldn't wait to tell Pamella at the Great Hall during suppertime.

Hesitating, Kettleburn picked up the book and snapped it closed. Shaking it frantically, he threw it across the classroom where it smashed into a streeler cage. One of the orange snails slid out and writhed across the floor. A girl in the Gryffindor row picked it up and dropped it gently into its cage.

Professor Kettleburn now looked more panicky than ever, which excited me even more. I had to blurt it out to Pamella – no, I couldn't, not right now, in class. But everybody was glancing straight at Professor Kettleburn.

"N-nothing, just an escaped streeler," he sputtered timidly, and then announced, "Hannah, start reading!"

Hannah began in a clear, smooth voice. "The Ashwinder," she explained lightly, "is a two meter long black snake that forms when a magical fire is left burning for too long. Ashwinders are very dangerous to wizardkind; their bodies and especially their tail burning with red-hot coals and embers that will leave an un-healing burn. The burns can be dealt with by rubbing a potion on them, but they will hurt severely. The Ashwinder's bite is also almost always fatal to anybody who is bitten by it, depending for how long it has been free from the fire. Ashwinders live for only an hour, but that is long enough for them to lay their fiery eggs. The eggs' shells will explode and the baby snakes die if water is poured onto the nest. Ashwinders are feared by wizardkind, so leaving a magical fire on for over half an hour is banned. Any wizard who breeds Ashwinders or deliberately leaves a magical fire on for too long may be fined or even put in jail for a month." **(Wow, 'harsh' punishment.)**

"Very – very g-good, Hannah," he stammered, and I seized my proof. It all fit – Professor Kettleburn must be the Enemy of Ravenclaw.

***

"Don't you see?" I exclaimed to my friends as we strode through the outdoor field during free studying time, our arms loaded with books. "It all fits – Professor Kettleburn is the Enemy of Ravenclaw, not Diane!" My blue and white scarf swung as I shook my head in disgust. I was trying to keep my voice down, because even in the buzzing, dizzying chatter that flooded the outdoor area, there were lots of people around and they were likely to hear our plans.

Sadia didn't look convinced. Her face was crinkled in a frown, and her eyes looked like she had seen a concert she didn't like.

"But Valerina, Professor Kettleburn is our teacher. With all the weird stuff that's been going on – surely, he'd leave in fear he'd be suspected," she explained.

I rolled my eyes, but Pansy chimed in, "Valerina's got a point there, Sadia. I mean … during that class he acted a little skittish, especially when that book opened to the picture of a sea monster, and when that snail got out of its cage."

My face glowed with pride, and Sadia's eyebrows rose. "Pansy's right, I guess," she mumbled somewhat disappointedly. "I guess you're going to flunk my idea of the jobberix, if you don't think Diane's guilty."

"No way!" I gasped. "You don't understand – it will be even easier to set the jobberix on him, because he's always scouting the hallways! If he's the enemy of Ravenclaw, he'll have millions of plots to do."

Sadia brightened, but frowned again. "Still, Valerina, he'd be sure to leave the school. If Dumbledore caught him"-

"If he left the school," Veronika pointed out, "He wouldn't be able to make the Dark Plots happen, would he? He's got to stay here so he can do them."

"And – and remember what McGonagall said, about the Dark Plots involving a monster?" she added. "Well, Professor Kettleburn has that great big wound on his arm, everybody knows that. I bet he goes somewhere to strengthen the monster with spells and enchantments, and that's why he got the scab – it bit him!"

"And he's bound to know lots about monsters; he's our Beast teacher," Pamella suggested brightly.

"Listen," I whispered. "The day Gilderoy Lockhart showed us those giant spiders, I saw Professor Kettleburn walking through the hallways into a room. I don't know which room it was, but that's not important"-

Pamella's eyes snapped wide open. "Yes, it is!" she squeaked nervously. "I bet it's like a passageway to the place where he strengthens the beast – so if we find it, we could go and destroy his plans!"

Everybody glanced at each other. The thought of having to go fight a monster sent shivers down my spine, and a cold fear settled in my heart.

"I bet that's why Gilderoy Lockhart made us do spiders in that class!" I beamed. "It all fits … Professor Kettleburn has lots of cages in his room – cages that looked like the cage Gilderoy Lockhart kept the spiders in! I bet Kettleburn gave the spiders to Lockhart as a diversion, so he could go and strengthen the beast without anybody noticing!"

"Without anybody noticing?" squawked a voice behind us. I nearly jumped into the air – was it Professor Kettleburn? Had he overheard us talking about him?

I spun around, just to see Hagrid, Hogwarts' gamekeeper. It was only the friendly, warm Hagrid, with his twinkling, tiny eyes and busy brown beard that shook when he laughed jollily. All my friends breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hagrid, it's only you," Sadia huffed, letting go of her fear. Then she explained to Hagrid about what she thought Professor Kettleburn was going to do, leaving out the jobberix and the things about us facing the monster.

Hagrid looked almost annoyed. "I tell you, there's nothing wrong with Professor Kettleburn! He's a Hogwarts teacher, and all that stuff about him being the Enemy is wrong, wrong, wrong! Let me tell you – you're up to no good. You're discovering things that shouldn't be discovered. It's dangerous," he scowled, and then walked away, shaking his head.

"What's wrong, Hagrid?" Veronika inquired.

"The students aren't safe," Hagrid answered. "Nobody is."

***

10:00 p.m.

The luminous, ghostly white moon cast shimmering rays of light sparkling over the still, glassy lake that spread around Hogwarts, and a monstrous, ugly giant squid that lived in the moat emerged from the waters, sending ripples rolling smoothly away on the surface. The moonlight shed a haunted, eerie look over the shadowy castle yards, which looked velvety green and still, and made the bushes look like shrubby blackish-grey blobs. The greenhouses were long, dark rows of inky black windows that only bleakly reflected the light from the moon, and the tallest towers looked like serious, unmoving guards. The place that the moonlight was peering down on was soon to be looked over as a secretive place of chaos, trouble, and especially danger.

Every corridor and passageway had a miserable, dreary look cloaking it, and the only brightness was cold grey light slanting in through the wide, decorative windows. These hallways were haunted by the friendly school ghosts who bobbed and floated mistily in midair, drenched with a distraught, dismal look. All their ghostly chatter was spoken soberly, in mournful, quiet murmurs. They were all worried about what would happen if the LINK was discovered by the Enemy and killed, and the monster was strengthened enough to call every other monster together to destroy the school.

Well, I guess we were strengthening a little monster of our own, but little birds aren't really deathly monsters.

The windows of the Ravenclaw girl's dormitory were closed tight, and dust drifted peacefully off them onto the stone floor, while more dust fogged out the windows like overcast. Nothing moved, and all the girls in their beds were silent and sleeping. Their thoughts of the horror of the Enemy and his or her monster had been swept into dreams, but at the very same moment I knew the monster was lurking somewhere deep in this school, and the plans were being plotted right at this second.

Then, some of the figures slumped in their beds began to toss and turn, and the blankets were brushed away to reveal Sadia, Veronika, Pamella and I. My heart thumped nervously. It was time to unleash our plans, to start breeding an illegal bird in our own common room. But we didn't know what lay beyond this night – expulsion?

We silently tiptoed out of our beds, now and then whispering in hushed breaths to each other. It took Pamella a little longer to get out of bed, because she slept with Pansy and didn't want to wake her up.

Finally we were tiptoeing out of our cozy, safe dormitory and skipping warily down the cold stone steps. The icy steps nipped at our bare feet. I glanced around, worried that somebody might find us, breeding an illegal bird in our own common room in the dead of night.

Trembling, our eyes wide with worry and our hearts shaking as much as our hands, we stumbled with flopping legs into the common room. I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn't believe that this room, bathed with velvety, dusky shadows, was the room where we had shouted and shrieked with laughter over Ravenclaw's triumph over Gryffindor in the Quidditch match. But now there was no rock music bouncing off the walls, and no candy shimmering on the tables. Weak, dreary moonlight slanted in through the windows, and dappled the floor in some areas, and every table and sofa was blanketed with opaque shadows. The tapestries, which in the daytime shone proudly with vivid azure blue showing the powerful Raven of Ravenclaw, were now only grey-blue sheets hanging from the walls. The common room looked gloomy, creepy, and in some areas, nothing but endless dark black. My heart skipped a beat as I thought fearfully, _wouldn't those shadows be the perfect place to hide a terrible monster?_

Sadia called for us all to come over to the biggest tapestry. "Now," she whispered, "if a teacher comes barging in here on supervision, we don't want him or her to hear us, especially if it's Professor Kettleburn." She swallowed hard, and my body flushed through with cold. Fear settled in my heart.

"Well," she gloated lightly, tapping her wand with her fingers, "I know a good spell that can make you invisible, and one that can make you inaudible. But when we're like that, we can still see and hear each other, and everything else. Only the teachers can't see us or hear us." Suddenly she flicked her wand briskly, murmured a few well-chosen words, and a streak of flaming light shot out from the end of her wand, which was glowing an electric yellow colour. "There," she murmured, "We're invisible and inaudible."

"Follow me," she beamed, and I tiptoed after her. My fear began to ebb away like embers dying on a coal fire, but my stomach still felt like something was fluttering inside of it. A monster could still eat us if we were invisible and inaudible, if it had a good sense of smell.

Sadia was striding comfortably towards the tapestry, which began to glow a vivid blue. Before any of us could think what was going on, she whipped out her wand, pointed it at the tapestry, and shouted, "_Ravenclaw_!"

I squinted in confusion, but suddenly she did something that made my heart stand on end and my stomach shriek inside. She climbed onto the nearest couch, pushed off, and jumped right at the tapestry! I wanted to scream, "_There's solid wall behind that tapestry, Sadia!" _but a hand flew up behind me and covered my mouth. Wildly I glanced behind me, and it was just Veronika. I lunged forward, but I saw there was no time. I just stared, terrified, waiting for her to crash. But suddenly, she slid right through the poster!

I blinked once, twice, and almost shrieked with astonishment. "Sadia!" I cried. "What in the world happened?"

I could hardly hear Sadia's voice from wherever she had gone. "Valerina!" she explained, "Listen! There's not a closet or room behind here, and I didn't crash through the wall! I got transported to a hidden chamber inside the wall! Nobody knows about it but me, because I was looking for a good spot to find for us to work on the jobberix a few nights ago while you were sleeping! If you say the password, and jump straight at the Raven on the poster, the power of the Raven gets you through! _If _you're wise enough to, of course – that's why only Ravenclaws can do it!"

I could hardly breathe, I was so amazed. I couldn't say anything, but smiled and stared, gasping for breath. "Should I try?" I questioned her nervously, but to my horror she yelled, "Of course; that's the only way to get in!"

My legs flopped so hard as I stared at Veronika and Pamella's frightened faces, and I could hardly scramble onto the slippery couch's edge. My eyes stared directly at the black Raven's eyes; they seemed to hold wisdom, power and love. I was careful not to look away, because if I did, I would crash into the hard stone wall. Knees wobbling, I bent my legs forward, then rose and quickly pushed off. Next thing I knew, I was soaring through the air towards the Raven.

Then I was ramming towards the wall, and then I felt as if I had been sucked into an underground sewer or an air duct. There was stone-grey wall slipping by beside me, and then I was shooting into the small room.

I hardly noticed as Veronika and Pamella slid in behind me. My eyes were wide, and my heart was dancing with fascination. This was a room of many questions; a small, narrow room containing nothing but a few wooden shelves going all around the sides, except for one wall on which a Ravenclaw banner hung. It was only a little brighter in here; Sadia had lit a few torches with a spell from her wand, and the flames blazed and twisted, red and orange and yellow, staying on the torch heads.

The darkness was all around us, but it concealed us in a comfortable, friendly way. It seemed to be miles away from any danger or trouble; just a safe, cozy room where we could stay until 1:00, when Sadia said it would be time for us to go to bed.

"Wow, Sadia, I wonder why it's here?" chimed the voice of Pamella behind us. I turned around to see her staring up at the shelves, mystified.

Veronika's brow began to wrinkle, and deep furrows began to crease in Pamella's.

"Don't you think it's a little spooky?" she questioned, with a mysterious shake in her voice. "A hidden little room that only _we _know about, only _we _can get to and is right behind the biggest _Ravenclaw_ tapestry? And there's just the same tapestry in here, right where we came in? And the password is _Ravenclaw_, and the power of _wisdom _pulls you through? Don't you ever wonder why it's here, and who made it, and why everything is so much about Ravenclaw?"

"Maybe Rowena Ravenclaw made it when she was a founder, to think up secret plans that could save the school when it was in trouble? A nice little place where she could use her wisdom all by herself? Maybe it's _her _wisdom that's pulling us through, and that pulled _her _through the wall when it should have been stone?" Sadia suggested simply. I thought she seemed very casual.

"Well, enough about this little chamber," she continued brightly, foraging deep into her pockets and whisking out her wand and two feathers. "We've got to get on with the jobberix now."

Something tingling curiously inside me – well, not exactly curiously, but a nervous curiosity that makes it seem like you have to find out what you're worrying over or something bad might happen – told me that, although Sadia was very smart, she was not using her wits enough. What if this chamber had something important to do with the Link of Ravenclaw, something so important that if we found it out we didn't even need to use the Jobberix, or something we needed to find out or else it couldn't prevent something bad from happening. There was something mystical about this chamber, something that seemed like the key to a big problem. But I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind. We needed to work on the Jobberix.

The feathers were long, silky plumes that had not a strand of fluffy down in them, the phoenix feather red-orange with a yellow glow hanging around it, and the jobberknoll feather as blue as the sky when the clouds have cleared away but the sun is not shining so brightly the sky seems yellow. A radiant, vivid gleam hung around both feathers, like mist clinging to a forested mountainside. Sadia pointed her wand at the feathers, cleared her throat, then yelled, "Avain Transfigure!"

All at once, the glow around the feathers became a booming, blazing flame of light, with little sparks of magic shooting off from around them. The whole little closet began to shake, and the blinding brightness was all around me and I could not see except for the occasional flashes of Pamella or Veronika diving for cover. And then….

An eerie, whimsical piping sound, and a harmony of sweet music, and suddenly everything was in focus again. But where the feathers had been stood two of the most powerful, majestic, magical birds I had ever seen.

One was a magnificent swan-sized bird with sleek, glossy plumage – enormous beating wings showing wide, long plumes glowing hot red in the torchlight, dazzling, flimsy tail feathers that swooped when the bird flew gracefully around the small closet and eyes that looked endless with kindness and love.

The other was a fluffy, colourful bird, Ravenclaw-blue with orchid pink markings on the wings. It had pure blue tail feathers and baby blue wings, but its head and sides were sapphire azure, and almost sparkling with magic.

The orange, magnificent bird was a phoenix. The smaller, blue one was the jobberknoll. We had our birds.

These birds were so wild, free but yet peaceful-looking, that all of us, even Sadia, had to stare at them in amazement as they stretched, squawked, and ruffled their feathers. Occasionally the phoenix would beat its wings, or the jobberknoll would chirp through its long, hard beak. But Sadia told us that we should get to work.

"I'll have to bewitch them with a couple of spells," she explained simply. "First," she added with a flick of her wand, performing each spell as she said it, "a spell so they'll be sure to mate, a spell to make them quiet and invisible to anybody but us, and lastly, a spell to make their egg come out as quickly as possible."

Pamella's eyes widened as the birds hopped on top of each other, mating. "Uh – Sadia, um, which is the male and which is the female?"

Veronika and I stared at each other, dubious that Sadia had the answer. In fact, she did.

"I learned in Beast Identification class," she said, "that female jobberknolls are paler in color and have completely whitish-grey tail feathers, underbellies and rumps, but males are striking in color with a powerful ocean-blue streak down each wing. Our Jobberknoll looks pretty faded and it does have a grey belly and tail, **(I thought it was 'sapphire azure' and 'almost sparkling with magic'?) **so our jobberknoll is a female. And I'm sure that the phoenix is a male." I couldn't believe how wise she was – but we all had to have pretty sharp minds, if we were Ravenclaws, which we were.

The birds had mated, and so now Veronika scooped them up in her hands and jumped through the Ravenclaw banner. She was quickly going back into the Ravenclaw common room to set them free through a window. It was no use keeping the animals locked up inside the school; they deserved to be free.

Once she had gone, Sadia pointed to a dull, blue-grey lump on the floor that looked rather like a stone and informed, "Now, in my handbook on breeding exotic birds"- she had pulled this out of her pocket, and Pamella rolled her eyes –"it says nothing about phoenixes and jobberknolls _together, _but it says about each of them _individually. _Let's see, our jobberknoll is a female, so she'd do the raising of the egg, so we should probably look at what a jobberknoll egg needs. Let's see, Kappa Housing, Kappa Breeding … Knarls, Kneazles … here we are! Jobberknoll eggs!" **(Oh, the wonders of a 9-year old's mind – the only place where J can come after K in the alphabet.) **

She began to flip through her notebook, and I sighed impatiently as I realized in slight disappointment that it would take her forever to read everything on breeding jobberknoll eggs. But, I reassured myself, we had a long time to do this, and it was our only chance.

"Now," Sadia announced clearly, hardly noticing as Veronika stumbled back into the room.

"Sadia!" she exclaimed fearfully, "I saw somebody out there, like a teacher or somebody."

"Whatever," Sadia assured, continuing, "Jobberknolls usually lay their eggs in sac-like pouches of straw hanging from a tree. The nests are protected from strong winds by … bla, bla, bla, okay, the female jobberknolls usually mix magical berry juices together with their beaks, drink them, then insert them into the eggs through a hollow tube on top of the beaks. The juices make the chicks inside the eggs healthy, strong and magical." Smiling thinly, she glanced weakly around at us, and my heart sank as I noticed from the dull look in her eyes that she didn't understand how she was supposed to do something.

Veronika's eyes were frightened. "Sadia," she blurted out instantly, "what does it say we should do?" Her voice trembled as her words grew more urgent – "What? What? Sadia, what do we need to do to feed the egg?"

Sadia's hands were shaking as she held out the book to us. And there, on the wrinkled, yellow sheet of paper, was written in ancient handwriting,

"_For students studying Care of Magical Creatures or Beast Identification, the jobberknoll eggs much be fed this berry juice potion, which is a beginner's potion. To insert the potion into the egg, you will need a"-_

This was where my heart really started to race.

"_- hollow troll's tooth, 12 inches long."_

***

November 11th

"A troll tooth! Where in the wizarding world are we going to get a troll tooth? I mean, not even Professor Kettleburn would have a troll tooth!" Pamella shrieked for the fourth time as we strode un-casually through the crowded, noisy broomstick riding outdoor yard. She was saving her hands in the air, and Sadia was frowning.

"Pammy," she reassured for about the third time round, "There must be a troll's tooth somewhere in the school. Trolls are big, foolish animals who can't stop to think – definitely _somebody _in this whole school must have a troll tooth."

I wasn't sure I agreed with her. Although she seemed bold and sure, my heart was deep in despair. I could tell that Veronika was distressed, too, because of the furrows in her pale forehead and the worry shining in her eyes.

I also wasn't sure we should be talking about this in the middle of the field, where children were packed tightly around, laughing or studying, or walking somewhere to study. Somebody could hear us. Two times during the past few hours, we had noticed Parvati or Lavender nosing around us, then dashing over to Diane shrieking, "They're talking about a _troll! _Oooooo, a troll must be coming in, ooooh nooo, I bet they're scared, ooooohhhh! Ruuuun for your lives, a big scary troll is coming! Ha-ha! A troll is coming and you're not going to make it! Ha, ha, ooooh nooo! You scaredy-cats! Ha!" I _was _scared that word would get around, and we would be in trouble.

I inched closer to Sadia, brushing past Veronika's swaying robes, and whispered coarsely, "I'm sorry, Sadia, but I think I agree with Pamella. I mean, when in a million years has a troll come into the school? Where would a teacher get a troll tooth? It's too scarce."

Sadia frowned, and sighed deeply. "I guess you're right," she whispered as she bended around a corner. "But since almost everybody's outside, I suppose it's safer to talk like something about this in the hallways, where we are now."

I'm sure we all knew we were in the hallway.

Suddenly, I took a step and froze. My whole body seemed to seize over, and I clutched my stomach, worried I was sick, but nothing happened. I was glued to the spot, and my heart began to race.

Veronika and Pamella were racing over, and Sadia was shrieking as she jumped up and down hopelessly, trying to get my attention so she could help me. But I could hardly see anyone. The faintest wisp of fog drifted into the corner of my eye; then everything was clouded with mist. My mind was horror struck … that nightmare I'd had in Mrs. McGonagall's classroom….it was all coming back. NO! I was screaming inside of me as my heart blazed, lost in the fading world. Everything around me was moving slowly and dreamily, like a ghost, and I couldn't hear anything but screeching. Then I realized – it was the screeching of Priscilla Tamble and Katrina Labont and the other girl who got knocked out, and I was the next victim!

Howling in agony, I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the terrible impact of going all cold and black and falling silently to the floor. But I remained surrounded by swirling mist, and the figures formed – a tall, clear window; suddenly there was glass all over the floor, and I was falling through the window. I wanted to shriek all the shrieks that has been inside me, bubbling and bubbling but unable to get out, but they were still trapped, and each time I got more afraid, another shriek formed inside me. But I couldn't yell, I couldn't move, I couldn't get help. I was glued to the spot, fearfully watching the violent scene. I couldn't even look away or blink the tiniest bit. I had to watch my worst nightmare ever happening over and over again.

Then, the dark, clouded black figure appeared crouching on the floor, and the blue glimmer was in the air again after me as I crashed through the window. But the black figure drew my thoughts back to the night before the memorable Quidditch match, when I'd had a strange dream about riding the _Comet Power _through a forest after a blue thing, which surprisingly and mysteriously seemed to be the figure in the dream, and the black thing that had been chasing me was the black thing crouching on the floor.

I knew what came next! I could hardly even scream, but I opened my mouth, and suddenly the most awful, ear-splitting racket of twisted wails, cries and shrieks poured out of my mouth. The mist was fading away, and my yells of terror were growing louder and sharper, and then-

"Valerina! It happened again! Oh, your nightmare! Oh, I'm so sorry!"

It was Pamella's voice, and she was scared so much that she was shaking and waving her hands, and tears were rolling down her boiling red cheeks.

I was lying on the cold stone floor of the hallway. Everything was clear again, and through the forest of legs around me I could see even more students and teachers gathering. Pamella, Veronika and Sadia were circled around me, horrified and worried; crowding close behind them were Velma, Bradley Labont and the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Engulfing me from all sides were the rest of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and even a few friendly Gryffindors. What I noticed was that there were no Slytherins, except Parvati, Jade, Millicent, Lavender and Diane leaning off in a corner to the side, snickering.

Clattering footsteps, startling and shrill in the hushed silence, and the sound of swishing robes, announced somebody was walking up quickly. When I looked up, there were Madame Hooch, an anxious look of fear flushed over her face, and Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse.

"What happened?" exclaimed Madame Hooch worriedly. "Are you hurt?"

Madame Hooch began crying out hundreds of questions that I hardly noticed; I was too dazed and astonished over what had just happened.

"We were worried," Madame Pomfrey shivered. "We thought a fifth student had been attacked."

Suddenly, something inside me made my heart skip a beat. "But Madame Pomfrey," I worked out, confused, "Only _three _people have been attacked – Priscilla Tamble, Katrina Labont, and that other girl. Shouldn't you have said you thought a _fourth _student had been attacked?"

"That's what I was getting to," murmured Madame Hooch, tears shining in her eyes. I could tell by the uneasiness of her voice that she was about to cry. "There was another attack, but thank goodness it wasn't a double attack, like it would have been if you had been knocked out. You and the Parkinsons, and Veronika Tresant and Sadia Mueslin should come with me to the hospital wing. Yes, any Hufflepuffs and other Ravenclaws too if they please, Miss Tristont," she answered Velma.

My heart was almost on fire with fear as I shuffled down the long hallways after Madame Hooch. I was so nervous I almost wanted to cover my ears and run screaming for my life, but another part of me said to be my usual wise self, and stay calm.

Suddenly we were in the Hospital Wing, and it all happened. There was another figure unconscious in another bed, the fourth one attacked. As I drew closer, I could see staring blue eyes and long, wavy, dark brown hair.

My heart nearly dropped out of its place.

"Oh no," I sputtered weakly, through shaky lips. "It's Pansy. Pansy's the fourth Ravenclaw attacked."


	12. Snape Can't Count

_In Which it is Revealed that Snape Can't Count _

OR, The Ghoul in the Library Part 1

_**A/N **_**I'm SO sorry I took so long in getting back to this. I could say I've been busy with camp and the beginning of the school year, and then losing the original copy of this story, but that's hardly an excuse. Anyway, you go: Chapter Twelve in the adventures of our "favorite" redheaded Ravenclaw Mary Sue, Valerina! **

My heart felt lost. My hands could hardly stroke Pansy's still, cold, body without collapsing into a heap on the bedside. II flopped onto the floor, disabled with mournfulness, and let the tears roll down. They were stinging hot, sizzling as they rolled uncontrollably down my tomato-red cheeks. Even though other students might feel only sad, knowing that the victims would probably be cured, I felt like the whole world had been lost. All the happy thoughts of Pansy, bright and bubbly and alive, spun through my mind and now I knew they were no more.

It couldn't be, just couldn't be Pansy! Pansy, who had defended me bravely from Parvati and Dianne; Pansy who had cheered so lovingly during our victory over Gryffindor in Quidditch; Pansy so wise and loyal and patient and true. All her love and kindness and the way her eyes had twinkled merrily, had dulled down to nothing as she lay still and silent in the cold hospital bed, with a fat that the staff did not have even a suggestion for curing, a state that none of the teachers could even explain. All the rest of the Hogwarts years, even if we won the house cup, would mean nothing without Pansy.

"Will you be able to cure her?" Pamella wailed between violent cries of dismay, "Oh, please, please, _please, _Pansy has to survive!"

Madame Pomfrey's hopeless look of despair saddened my slight hopes. "We don't know why these students are unconscious, yet alone if that's even the state they're in. There is no magic that can go beyond human brains, Miss Parkinson, but we'll see what we can do," she managed to stammer.

Pamella broke into uncontrollable crying, and I let the tears come over and over again.

Madame Hooch said to the crowds, "All of you, we need to give Pansy her rest – shoo now, except for the Parkinsons and Miss Tristont, Miss Tresant, and Miss Mueslin."

Sadia's brown cheeks were stained with tears, and her eyes shone with grief. "Where did you – you find her?" she croaked weakly.

"She was found lying in a heap near Professor Kettleburn's classroom; we heard a scream and came running, and there she was. That's all there is: now go, all of you; Pansy needs to have rest," Madame Hooch answered, with a hint of distress from the back of her throat.

As we left and walked out into the hallway, I found myself too saddened to study, and let the tears come again and again.

***

Hogwarts was not Hogwarts without Pansy. Without her eyes shimmering in the hallways, her voice cheering in the corridors and passageways, it seemed that my whole year had been nothing but disaster. Pansy was gone, there was nothing else to say. She could just about be dead. If the teachers didn't find out a way to cure her and the other students, they would just have to lie there forever, still alive, but unable to see, walk, move, hear or smell. That was just as bad as death; worse.

Even Quidditch had lost its fun, without Pansy's bright, joyful cheering when we won, and her flags flapping in the air like no other flags did. We played Gryffindor again and steamrollered them just like before, but I couldn't save a seeker or knock somebody off their broom. I had to almost fall off my broom in order to duck a bludger shot by Gryffindor Bruce Turner, instead of the skilled roll-over in midair. The Gryffindor seeker, Marjorie Chortle, didn't fall off her broom while guarding the hoop, Gryffindor scored more goals than they had last time, and I didn't score any goals. Twice Angelina Johnson went smashing into me while I hung in the air, overwhelmed by the loss, and I think she meant to do it for what I did to her during the first match. Although Bradley caught the snitch, I felt in my heart that we hadn't won at all.

But even the Gryffindors seemed to understand about Pansy, and after the match I bumped into Angelina Johnson and she said she was sorry she had almost knocked me off my broom. I said I was sorry for knocking her off her broom during our first meet, and she said I didn't have to be because that was how the game went. But she was _really_ sorry. She hadn't realized it was me, and that I was sad; she was just spinning out of control and felt sorry for Pansy as well. **(A/N: So it's perfectly acceptable for Valerina to intentionally and cruelly knock Angelina off of her broom, yet Angelina's accidental collision with Valerina requires true remorse and apology on Angelina's part? We'll never truly understand the flawed logic of a ten-year old fanfic writer, I'm afraid.) **Then I felt that the only house who didn't grieve over Pansy was Slytherin.

Then we played Slytherin, and I had to push away my thoughts about Pansy because I wanted to show Dianne. But I still felt distraught during the match, more miserable and mournful than ever, and the Slytherin seeker almost beat Bradley to the snitch; however, we won. I, on the other hand, felt I had won nothing but a silly Quidditch match.

Then we played Hufflepuff, and they won. Velma **(A/N: her sister, in case you can't remember) **is on the Hufflepuff team, which makes me hate playing Hufflepuff even more. The Hufflepuff seeker, Justin O'Neil, dodged a bludger shot at him and it knocked Bradley off his broom. Then Justin caught the snitch. When he looked back and suddenly saw Bradley on the ground, he thought it wasn't fair and wanted a re-match. But they had won fair and square. I didn't care at all, but I think Bradley did. **(A/N: I took that whole scenario from the Prisoner of Azkaban Quidditch match, in which Cedric catches the snitch after Harry falls off his broom, and demands a re-match after he sees his fallen opponent.) **

We had to work on the Jobberix every night, and sometimes Pamella didn't even come; being Pansy's sister she couldn't work on our bird again. It was too depressing, thinking of the first time we had worked on the Jobberix, and Pansy had just been asleep up in the girl's dormitory above us. But Veronika and I felt we had to help Sadia.

Taking care of the egg, especially when we thought of Pamella filling up Pansy's spot in the dormitory, was a tedious sort of work. We still didn't have a troll's tooth, so Sadia had used a small, pointed wooden tube instead, a gift from Hagrid because he knew we were sad because of Pansy. He said the wood was supposed to a candy-holder, but it was really an egg-feeder.

Every night, Sadia would be working harder than all of us, and sometimes she didn't even need the egg and left it in Moonridge's cage. She was brewing the potion in her cauldron, with dried enchanted berries she'd been given as a present from our Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout, for doing an excellent job on her plant report. Sadia wanted to keep at least one of the berries in its glass bottle, but the other seven she used for the potion. She would tell us to squish them and squeeze them and drain the juice into the cauldron, or to drop a whole berry in or skin one and drop it in. All her information she was reading from a potion book.

When the potion was finished, every night she would sneak the egg out of Moonridge's cage and bring it downstairs, and while she was tending to it she would ask us to weave together straw, grass and skinny little twigs with sewing movements of our wands, until we had made a small sack-shaped nest for the egg to rest in. We would collect down that had been dropped from the phoenix and the jobberknoll when they had been in the little closet with us and stuff it into the nest for comfort, while Sadia injected the potion into the egg with the sharp end of the tube. She put the tube onto the egg, not quite breaking through, and carefully spilt the runny, violet potion through the tube, and somehow the little bird inside sucked the potion through the eggshell, and when Sadia heard this slurping noise she spilt another spoonful into the eggshell. The egg must have this potion all the time, every night, and so nighttime to us was just a few dull, dragging hours without Pamella, secretly watching Sadia pour the watery, red liquid through a tube. She said that we could not have a turn, sorry, but if we did something wrong, the egg would die.

Whenever she said that, I felt a painful pang of loss and agony strike my heart, remembering Pansy. As we worked on this illegal bird in a secretive little chamber, Pansy would be lying motionless under the thin but tight sheets of the hospital bed in which she was attended to. Her whole future ay in what the Magical-medical remedy books said, and if they had no cure to this unknown state, or why she had it or how she had gotten it, she would be lost forever. When this year was over, Hogwarts would leave behind too many painful memories for me to come back.

***

A hoarse whispering next to my ear caught my attention in the racket of the great hall during lunchtime, and I could hear it better than I could hear every word the students were chattering uncontrollably.

"Pssst, Valerina!" exclaimed the voice of Sadia. "Pssst!"

It was lunchtime, and we were sitting in the great hall nibbling in detachment at corn on the cobs and large submarine sandwiches. I wished that Pansy would be sitting with me, eating the lavish feast along with me. But that was a possibility too slim to even think about.

I turned my attention to Sadia. "Yes?" I asked, hesitantly. I knew she was talking about the Jobberix, and I didn't want anyone else to hear."

We both crouched underneath the dark shadows of Ravenclaw table. There was a gleam of excitement in Sadia's eyes.

"Listen," she announced quietly. "Everything's set. I did my calculations and we only need one more dose of the potion for the Jobberix. This is the most important dose. But here's the bad part – it says that you _need_ a troll's tooth, because it has magic on it that helps a jobberknoll grow – _only _a troll's tooth."

"But we don't have a troll's tooth," I concluded nervously.

"And if we don't get a troll's tooth before ten o'clock tonight, we won't have a Jobberix! Then Professor Kettleburn will get away with all this, and…." Her voice wavered away for a moment, and she was lost in frightened thought.

"And what?" my heart began to pound harder than it had before.

"And…" Sadia faltered, then ended, "and Pansy will never restore her life. Neither will the others. But we'll have no Pansy if we have no troll's tooth. We might not even have our lives."

"Hey," called a soft voice from above. Sadia and I clambered back onto our chairs, to see Veronika and Pamella. It had been Pamella that was speaking. "Let's … let's go visit my sister in the Hospital Wing, come on."

We trudged away from the noisiness of the Great Hall, into the peace and quiet of the hallways. A couple Gryffindors and Velma and her friend Elizabeth were studying in the hall, and a Gryffindor girl was studying with Katie Bell in the open field area. **(Again, I seem to have forgotten the word 'courtyard.') **But apart from that, we were alone. The weariness of Pansy's loss beat down on our backs like spanks, only worse. Spanks only hurt instantly, but the loss of a friend could weigh you down forever.

Suddenly, we crashed into something with swaying robes standing in the hallways. I looked up, expecting to see a student, maybe Velma, but I saw Professor Snape, potions teacher and head of Slytherin house, with a grim look on his face.

My friends and I stepped back, but Snape's cold glare followed us. "And what would three **(four, actually) **young, suspicious Ravenclaws like yourselves be doing outside when there's such a feast going on in the Great Hall?"he questioned icily.

My heart raced. "We're … we're going to visit the girls in the Hospital Wing, give them a visit," I sputtered swiftly.

Snape kept staring at us. "You're up to something," he muttered, the skulked away, searching the passageways for other people who had been attacked. I took a deep, long sigh of relief as we turned into the wide, airy Hospital Wing, with an enormous domed ceiling arching above two rows of wide windows and forty beds, twenty to one wall and twenty to the other. Four beds lying in the right row had candy and flowers on the tables next to them. I was sorry we had left on such short notice, without candy or other presents for Pansy. Her table was the emptiest, because she had been so recently attacked.

We passed gravely by Priscilla and Katrina, lying motionless on their backs, with a heavy look of sorrow on our faces. Our eyes were almost wet with tears as we passed the Ravenclaw girl we didn't really know, poor unfortunate Erica Balls, and knelt down by Pansy. Madame Pomfrey was out researching Pansy's state in a Magical-Medical book in the library. I reached out and stroked Pansy's smooth, pale hand, curled up in the agony of being attacked. As I rubbed her fingers gently, a tapping sound split the air. **(Don't worry if you don't understand how this happens; I can't either.)**

I drew my hand back and frantically looked at my friends, who had looks of urgency on their faces. What was happening? Nervously, I touched her hand again, and suddenly realized something was inside it. I carefully, daintily uncurled her hand, staring at a shining white object that was inside it. It was in the shape of –

A TOOTH!

I drew in my breath in astonishment, heart beating in excitement. It was all coming together, but how? Pansy had a troll's tooth! I couldn't keep in my thrill, my shrieks of delight, but I couldn't let them out either, so I stood up and attacked my friends with hugs. I couldn't believe it; we had the tooth! How? Why? Why did those things matter! The Jobberix would succeed, and we could catch Professor Kettleburn's plans through what the Jobberix said, and destroy his plans and save the school. Certainly his plans must have something to do with what was happening to Pansy! My heart lifted with victory. Everything would be okay.

Tears of relief and happiness began to bubble up in my dancing eyes, and, suddenly, an astonishing thought hit me like a bowling ball thrown through the air.

"Pamella! Veronika! Sadia! I know where Pansy got the troll's tooth! I know how she got it!" I shrieked.

The three friends' eyes grew wide, and Pamella's skin grew pale. She looked like one of the school ghosts. "What?" she asked me urgently. "Is it bad?"

"No, not really," I answered. Everything became clearer and clearer, my information spreading out in front of me. "Now, listen," I exclaimed, my voice bursting into action. My heart was pleading that my newfound knowledge of why Pansy had gotten the tooth would save the school – please, please, _please, _this had to work. "Veronika, think back to the first night we worked on the Jobberix. Remember, you went to set the phoenix and the jobberknoll free, and when you got back you said you saw someone, and Sadia thought it was a teacher? I'd bet you anything it was Pansy! When Pamella tried to get out of bed, she must have woken up Pansy, and Pansy tried to get back to sleep but she couldn't, so she went down into the common room to see what we were doing. She saw Veronika, but Veronika only got a glimpse of her because she was running so fast. Pansy stayed in the common room and listened through the walls. She heard that we needed a troll's tooth. And remember back to the giant spider attack, when I said Kettleburn gave Lockhart the spiders so he could create a diversion? And I saw Kettleburn going through the door, and told you about it? Pansy must have heard us. She noticed what I just noticed – the door he went through was the door to the _forbidden section of the library!!"_

Everyone's faces were bright and shining with amazement, but Pamella didn't seem sure of one thing.

"So, how did she get the tooth, and what's so great about the forbidden section of the library?"

I still had lots of the story to tell, and everything was buzzing around in my mind. The remainder of the story unfolded in my mind, and I burst out, "Remember that everyone thinks there's a ghoul in the library? When we read our beast essays in school and Kristen Parker read about the ghoul, I heard every word she said and remembered it. Don't you remember that a ghoul looks like a troll, and scientific reports have shown it's actually the ghost of a dead troll? So, a ghoul tooth would count as a troll's tooth, I'm sure. There must be a ghoul haunting the forbidden section of the library."

"But Pansy didn't believe in the ghoul," Pamella murmured, a tear sparkling in her eyes. She was getting sad, remembering her little sister's bravery.

"Well," I explained, "she must have found out one way or the other that there was a ghoul. And know what?" A bit of fear quivered in my heart as I said this, nervous of what lay ahead, "I know why we saw Professor Kettleburn go into the door of the library's forbidden section, and why he needed to create a diversion! He was going to strengthen the monster without anyone noticing, and I'll bet you anything that the ghoul in the library's restricted section is the monster, the monster that's being strengthened, the monster that will bring back the Dark Plots of the Enemy."

My heart was quivering like jelly in a cup. We had gotten so far, we were close to figuring this all out. The faces of my friends were pale, with fear blazing in their eyes, because even I knew that we'd have to face the Ghoul if we wanted to stop the Dark Plots. But I still had so much more of my proof to tell.

"Remember that big scab on Professor Kettleburn's forehead? I bet the Ghoul bit him when he was strengthening it"-

I was interrupted by Sadia. "So, what's he strengthening the Ghoul with? Food? Any particular kind of food?"

I smiled grimly. "Don't know," I answered, "But we still have to figure that out. But listen – he was so angry at the Ghoul for biting him he found some way to take its sharpest tooth out, which must be this one. He must have kept it in the classroom. Pansy heard about us wanting the troll's tooth, so she snuck into the classroom during our Free Studying Time and took the tooth. She was going to give it to us, but on her way out … she was attacked, somehow. That's the other thing we need to find out."

We all stared silently at Pansy's still body, her hand empty of the tooth. Poor Pansy, she had been attacked while trying to help us, almost sacrificing herself. She did not face certain death, but it was very likely that there was no cure for her state in the Magical-Medical Remedy book, and if that happened, there would be no way to revive her. She would just stay like this forever, nearly dead. She could never defend us from Parvati again, and the way Parvati would sneer, I could tell she especially did not like Pansy. She would never cheer for another Quidditch game, or risk her life trying to help us. She was a perfect friend, so loyal and wise, wiser than any other Ravenclaw I had ever seen. She understood that the school was in danger, and it was very likely she knew about the Jobberix, and was attacked trying to save us. There was no greater wisdom, I thought, than that.

I stared at my friends, tears half-blotting out my view of them. "Well," I croaked sadly, "Madame Pomfrey's back. Tonight when we set the Jobberix out, free to spy on Kettleburn in the hallways, we'll set out to try and get a good glimpse of the Ghoul. We don't necessarily have to kill it, or even fight it, just learn all we need to about it so we can put together this information with the information from the Jobberix, and find a way to defeat the Ghoul" – that was where it got dangerous –"and save the school and maybe even save Priscilla, Katrina, Erica, and of course, poor Pansy."


	13. Birds, Feathers, Courage and Cowardice

_Of Fast-Growing Birds, Unnecessary Descriptions of Feathers, and Veronika's Courage vs. Her Friends' Cowardice_

_OR, _The Ghoul in the Library, Part 2 

In all of our months at Hogwarts, there had never been a night more magical than the one the Jobberix hatched. The enchanted passageway through the tapestry into the secret room seemed even more interesting than ever, even though none of us really had proof of why it was there. When we were nestled inside, and Sadia had given the last dose of the berry potion to the egg, we watched intently, our hearts thumping with excitement, as the egg lay still on the ground.

For about fifteen minutes we sat and watched, waiting impatiently. We were beginning to doubt, quite disappointedly, that the egg would hatch tonight, and we started to leave, when Sadia gave a little cry of excitement.

"It's happening! I saw the egg tip over!" she called in thrill.

We hurried over, and with our eyes stretched to enormous sizes we stared as the egg throbbed and wobbled; then, in a swirl of smoke, it split in two and the shells wobbled on the ground. There was a tiny baby bird. I drew my breath in, but it was not as cute as I expected. Slime and afterbirth streamed down its shining sides, and its unsteady legs could hardly hold itself up. It had only a fluffy, extremely short layer of fuzzy feathers called down, which are not replaced by new feathers, but only covered by them. **(And we need to know this why….?) **These feathers were pale yellow on the wings and head, like a phoenix, with the same drooping orange tail feathers, but with a speckled blue body. The tail feathers were only round, fluffy plumes, but I had to admit, it was still an amazing sight, even if it wasn't breathtaking or dazzling.

I couldn't believe that we had actually done it. Pride and excitement gleamed in my heart as the tiny bird flapped its stubby wings and let out a faint, weak cry through its beak. I also couldn't believe that in a few moments, this little bird would be free in the school, when now it seemed so safe and protected in the small room.

"Well," Sadia quavered, "I suppose we'd all better head out into the school and, well, set the bird free. Then we'll sneak into the Forbidden Section of the Library and find out all we can about this ghoul."

"But," Pamella reminded gently, "All the teachers are scouting the school; they're so worried about the Dark Plots and the monster and they want to keep us safe. If we sneak out, they're bound to see us."

"Scouting at ten o'clock at night?" snapped Veronika hysterically.

"Yes," Pamella answered, somewhat annoyed at Veronika's snapping back. "But, I thought that if Sadia would do that spell that made us invisible, and the one that made us inaudible, and then do it to the bird … then we'd be safe to explore the Forbidden Section of the Library and look for the ghoul."

A wide smile spread across Sadia's brown face. "With pleasure!" she exclaimed, whipping out her wand and waving it briskly, then slipping it back into her cloak pocket. "I've done the spell. It's a new spell, one that makes us both inaudible and invisible at the same time, so I don't have to do two spells. I read about it in _Wandering with Werewolves, _pg 12; it's an adventure/information book…"

"Come on, let's go," I encouraged my friends, and, carrying the Jobberix, I lead them out of the secret closet. I remembered that we would not need to use it anymore. It would just stay there, undiscovered, and nobody would be able to see its wonders or even discover why it was there. My heart ached with a pang of curiosity, as I wondered why it was there. But at least we were done with it, and would not be caught in it by a teacher.

Invisible, I lead my friends out of the shadowy common room, excitement freezing my mind. The corridors were lit up with the warm glow of flaming torches. I heard the clatter of footsteps coming, then more, and suddenly the corridors swarmed with teachers. They were patrolling. Among them, I noticed Professor Kettleburn, and suddenly became confused – and then I understood. I had wondered why he was patrolling when he knew he was guilty of strengthening what the other teachers were searching for, but I realized that if he did not patrol with them, they would think he was up to something, which I knew he was. At this very moment, only two inches from us, Professor Kettleburn might be planning the Dark Plots.

We shuffled through the wide hallways until we came to an airy, empty one where the teachers had not yet reached. It was the hallway beside the library.

I held out my hand, and the Jobberix hopped on it and squealed playfully. I stared into its eyes and said,

"Listen, Jobberix. You're on a mission here. You have to spy on Professor Kettleburn. He's the Enemy of the LINK of Ravenclaw; that's a bond between the legendary raven and someone else. The Raven has been locked up, so the LINK is broken and Professor Kettleburn can start the Dark Plots. We need you to listen to every word he says, all day, every day. You won't get hurt or caught, because you're invisible. We made you invisible. Now go!"

The little bird stared at us for a while, and then flew off. **(It already knows how to fly???) **It reminded me of beloved Moonridge, my own owl. I loved Moonridge. There was something very special, very powerful and important about her to me; when I looked in her eyes I could see wisdom, patience and truth. I guess it was just because I loved her so much and she was my very own owl I had found. I never knew where she came from; she just flew to me when I was very young, only two years old, and then she was mine forever. When I got my Hogwarts letter it said I could bring an owl, and I knew I wanted Moonridge.

I shook the thoughts about Moonridge out of my mind, watching the bird wing out of sight through a passageway. My heart leapt fearfully and I glanced at Sadia. Now that the Jobberix was on patrol, we would have to discover the secrets of the ghoul in the Library. What if it hurt us? I didn't know much about ghouls; I didn't know how dangerous it was; but a ghoul sounded like the kind of monster that would be part of a Dark Plot.

"I guess we'd better go to find the ghoul," I whispered timidly to my friends, and we slowly made our way over to the door. My heart was flopping and pounding as Sadia unlocked the door and we slunk silently into the shadows.

The first thing I saw in the dismal, haunted Forbidden Section of the Library was a giant, ghostly, grey lump piled on the floor. The ghoul in the Forbidden Section of the Library was sleeping! Tremendous, earth-shaking snores rumbled from the ghoul, making my heart quiver. Sadia, Veronika, Pamella and I shrunk back into the dreary shadows, the dark cloaking us. We backed even further back when we saw the huddled lump straighten up and stand, tall and fearsome-looking.

It was extremely ugly. The ghoul's whole body was eerie-white and misty, but it did not look like a normal ghost, only a dead troll. Its feet were bulky and massive, clustered with lumps and spikes. Its body was clustered with lumps of skin, and a terrifying club swung from its monstrous ape-like arms. The ghoul's head looked rather like that of a monkey, bare from spikes or bumps, with big ears and narrow eyes.

I gulped, and Pamella's hand tightened on my shoulder. My heart was thumping so hard that I felt like crying and blubbering out loud, but I knew I shouldn't. The inaudibility spell would wear off soon, and the invisibility one as well **(and yet you just told us they were both the same spell…)** and the ghoul might notice us.

Then Pamella squeaked worriedly from behind me, and I looked back only for an instant to see tears sprouting in her sea-blue eyes. It was then I realized that the spell had already worn off. We would have to remain silent and still, without the ghoul seeing us. We were already up against a wall between some bookshelves; the ghoul could easily corner us.

I had thought too soon. The ghoul was taking clumsy, shaking steps towards us, its slit-like eyes alert and its club swinging. That massive club could break our bones and knock us out for several hours, just in one big swing. I gulped, and clutched Sadia's arm tightly, when suddenly Veronika screamed, "Hey, you big ugly ghoul, take this!"

I leapt forward, ready to shriek out loud, but halfway in my lunge I stopped myself. I could only watch, frozen with horror, as Veronika boldly stepped forwards, tossing a book at the ghoul with a powerful swing of her arm. I was a little less horrified when Sadia grabbed Veronika's arm and whispered urgently, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I have to fight the ghoul, don't I?" Veronika spluttered, and I could tell she was very frightened. "It's the best thing to do, to risk your life when others are in hours of peril. It's the best kind of bravery, but also the best kind of wisdom."

"But we're invisible, wait!" cried Sadia urgently, lunging at Veronika.

"You have to fight, for your friends," Veronika reassured.

Sadia stepped back, swallowing hard. The best kind of wisdom, I thought, could not be bothered. I scrunched up against Pamella as Veronika stepped forwards courageously.

"Hey, you ghoul!" she yelled again, grabbing a book and flinging it through the air like she usually threw the quaffle. The ghoul's powerful club, a bone-breaking wooden hulk, rose forwards and swatted the book away.

My heart leapt as the ghoul advanced on Veronika. I rushed forwards, not even thinking, and with a fierce battle cry of bravery, leapt in the air. I flew towards the ghoul, and then, feet-first, smashed violently into the ghoul's lumpy body. My legs seemed to snap backwards with the sudden crash, and I fell to the ground, thudding painfully onto the cold, rough stone floor. My thoughts went dead as waited to feel myself lose consciousness, my mind spinning with terror. White-hot pain surged through my body, and all my joints seemed to go limp. I was too hurt to move, nearly paralyzed with pain.

I lay disabled on the ground, helplessly letting the pain flush through my body as the footsteps clattered and boomed all around me. I squeezed shut my eyes and waited for the fall into unconsciousness.

But it never came.

My joints became strong like they were before, my wounds dissolved, and my eyes snapped open. I was growing stronger again – just like at the Quidditch match! But what was happening? There was a flash of pure blue, and then I felt something tug me. I whirled my head around and with a breath of relief I saw Sadia and Pamella laboriously trying to move me into the safe corner. I skittered back into the shadows with them.

I was still a little dazed, but when I saw Veronika bravely trying to back the ghoul off, I leapt to my feet again and darted towards her, followed by Sadia and Pamella. My heart raced with panic as the ghoul heaved its body towards us and swung its club towards Veronika. Her eyes widened with horror and she let out a piercing scream but was too frantic to even move. My heart blazed and I leapt towards her at the last moment, pushing her out of the way.

The ghoul was confused. It stared around, then swung its club at Sadia, who was leaning against a bookshelf. She screeched, but I didn't have to rescue her. Swiftly, she scrambled cleverly up the bookcase. Books fell out of the shelves, and one even flipped open, shrieking. I leapt back in surprise, my heart blazing with fear. The book had a face in it, screaming!

My heart pounded as I ran to slam the book shut. Even when I slapped the pages shut, the ear-splitting screaming of the book bounced off the Library walls and echoed in my dazed ears. There was terror all around me; everything was rushing by so quickly; and then, BOOM!

The doors flew open. There was Madame Hooch, followed by a beaming-faced Diane.

**A/N: Dun – dun – duuuun! Next chapter will involve an ancient prophecy, a revelation, and a creature mentioned in a previous chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading what I've got so far! **


	14. ALLCAPS Hooch, Math, and Marriage?

_Of AllCaps!Madame Hooch, Subtraction Problems and Unexpected Marital Status! _

_OR, _A Peek Into the Past

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update; I'm currently embarking on a multi-chapter Pirates of the Caribbean story that's taking up much of my time and patience, so side projects like Valerina got moved to the side. If anyone's still reading, I hope you enjoy the next chapter in the wild and crazy tales of my first-ever Mary Sue, Valerina Tristont!**

Madame Hooch's eyes blazed with rage and fury, and her cheeks flamed red-hot. I was too scared to move. The ghoul slunk back into the shadows.

Madame Hooch's voice was like a hurricane, gluing our attention to her. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, YOUNG LADIES!" Behind her, Diane snickered. My heart was crushed. I was sure we'd be expelled; there was nowhere to hide, no time to run, and nothing to say. Worse, we'd never save the school. Or Pansy.

I stared at the ground, ashamed, my heart sinking. Here we were in the dead of night, in the Restricted Section of the Library, fighting a ghoul. And a teacher walks in and sees us? We wouldn't even have detention, this was so bad. Worse, Diane knew.

Veronika was brave. "Well, Madame Hooch, we" –

"THERE'S NOTHING TO EXPLAIN, YOUNG RAVENCLAWS! I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU WERE DOWN HERE, BUT YOUR PUNISHMENTS WILL BE SERIOUS! COME INTO MY OFFICE!" Madame Hooch roared. Her voice was terrible; her eyes were like fire.

Trembling, hearts hopeless, we slunk helplessly through the empty hallways where the Jobberix might be flying even now, free and unpunishable, with Madame Hooch in front of us and Diane behind. I didn't even have time to wonder why Diane was, like us, up in the middle of the night. **(A/N: nor did I, apparently, have time to explain it…) **We were as good as expelled.

We slunk into Madame Hooch's office, facing her shamefacedly. All of us studied the cold stone floor with worry. The walls seemed to laugh at us; the moon shimmering through the windows seemed to mock us, so free in the sky. Madame Hooch stood in front of us all, our future in her decision.

"NOTHING – I repeat – NOTHING gives the student the right to walk about the school at night," Madame Hooch scolded scornfully **(cough*stoleMcGonagall'sline*cough), **her words punctuated with a shake of her pointed finger. Her eyes were filled with great disappointment, and her face was serious and solemn. Our feet shuffled nervously on the ground.

"As it is," Madame Hooch continued, her voice horrible, "You were also in the Restricted Section of the Library, which is out of bounds to all students, and foolish enough to face a ghoul which was innocently called here by Dumbledore himself to guard the school!" **(Guard the school from inside a locked room…?) **She was all ruffled up and squawking, like an angry rooster.

Veronika was bold enough to raise her shivering hand.

"Yes, Mrs. Tresant?" Madame Hooch barked sharply. **(Now she's **_**married**_**???)**

"S-so the ghoul is only here to protect the school from … the Dark Plots?" she quavered. **(Again, some help it's going to be if it's locked in the Forbidden Section of the Library.)**

Madame Hooch stared seriously at us. "Yes," she answered coldly, "But the Dark Plots are not to be worried about by any students, and they are nothing for you to be messing around with. I would like any silly behavior about the Plots to stop, even though they are increasing the chance of the school being closed and all you students" – she pointed a finger from us to Diane –"being sent home, and likely sent to another school, with not as high ratings as Hogwarts."

Each of us stared at each other, and even Diane's smirk had been wiped off her face and replaced by a thin, grim smile. Her eyes were fearful.

"Now," Madame Hooch snapped, "as your punishment, there will be fifty points taken away from Ravenclaw."

My heart melted into dismay. "_Fifty_?" I exclaimed hopelessly. Diane sneered, showing her crooked white teeth.

"FIFTY POINTS EACH!" Madame Hooch snapped. "Since there were four of you out, and Ravenclaw had 400 points, you now only have 100 points!" **(First Snape, now Hooch. Can any of Hogwarts' staff do math?)**

All our chances of winning the house cup were destroyed. We had been in the lead, 400 points, beating Slytherin's 369. Now we were in last place, just after Gryffindor's 190 **(Thanks to Hooch's inability to do simple subtraction.) **Worse, Slytherin – that meant Diane – was in first place, probably bound to win the House Cup. Hufflepuff, at least, was in second place, but I did not want to see Diane's smirking face when she won the house cup. Right now, nearly expelled, seeing Diane's tongue sticking out at us, was bad enough. But if Diane won the house cup … she would never forget it.

Madame Hooch glared at Diane. "NOW," she roared, "DIANE PROMPTON, YOU WERE ALSO UP IN THE SCHOOL AFTER HOURS! I WANT YOU TO EXPLAIN TO PROFESSOR SNAPE, AND THERE WILL BE FIFTY POINTS TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU!"

"But I had to go to the bathroom," wailed Diane in despair, "and I heard crashing and screaming in the library … and I came to tell you!" Her eyes were wide and filled with annoyingly fake innocence.

I calculated wisely in my head, struggling to push away the last few despairing moments. "At least," I sighed, "Hufflepuff are in first place. Diane's fifty points taken away pushed Slytherin's 369 behind Hufflepuff's 340. Slytherin now have 319."

I sighed, long and deep, again. It did not really matter, I thought, if Hufflepuff, or Slytherin, or Gryffindor won the house cup. We would not, and we would be expelled. I would never see Pansy again. I would never play Quidditch again. But worse, I could never save Hogwarts. I would never find out what happened to the Jobberix. I would never see Velma graduate; I would never see Bradley or any of the Quidditch team. But probably worse, I would have the pleasure of learning to be a fully trained Wizard taken away from me … forever.

"NOW, RAVENCLAWS!" thundered Madame Hooch, her voice shattering the sorrowful silence of the airy, wide office. "BECAUSE THE GHOUL MIGHT HAVE THREATENED YOU AND YOU HAD TO FIGHT TO LIVE, OR PERHAPS YOU DID NOT KNOW THE RESTRICTED SECTION WAS RESTRICTED, OR PERHAPS YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING INTO THE NORMAL SECTION OF THE LIBRARY, I WILL NOT EXPEL YOU … AT LEAST NOT THIS TIME! BUT YOU WILL HAVE YOUR DETENTION, THE FIVE OF YOU, WITH HAGRID TONIGHT!"

"But Professor," Diane chimed in, **(in a perfect imitation of Draco Malfoy)** "I think I heard you wrong. You said, 'the five of you.' There are only four of them, Professor."

But what Madame Hooch said made me a little happier. "Well, Mrs. Prompton, **(she's married too?) **I know that you yourself were out after hours. You will serve detention with your classmates."

Diane's smile was wiped away completely.

***

The campus of Hogwarts looked creepy and haunted, with a bleak, dark look spread over it. The shadowy bushes rustled sometimes with the activity of small nighttime animals, and the massive sky domed above us, velvety with darkness. Not a blink of a star twinkled in the immense blackness, but the luminous moon had a ghostly, opaque look.

I shivered, fearful next to Veronika. All five of us – me, Veronika, Pamella, Sadia and Diane – were striding nervously through the Hogwarts campus after the Hogwarts caretaker, Argus Filch, who liked to give students detention.

My heart felt small and lost in the dark world. Our only comfort was the faint yellow light glowing from a small but comfortable wooden hut where our gamekeeper, Hagrid, lived. He had a bushy black beard that clouded on his chin, and jolly, twinkling eyes. Hagrid was friendly and helpful, but had a love for beasts that nobody could explain. The hut looked like it was shrinking down under the shadows of the tall, groping trees of the Forbidden Forest. Their crooked, bony branches looked like reaching hands in the darkness.

We saw something moving towards us, and my heart skipped a beat, then relaxed; it was only Hagrid. He carried a lantern, its warm, foggy glow more comforting than the creepy light shining from the moon, and his bulky, clumsy boarhound, the faithful Fang, was lumbering along behind him. Strings of drool hung from Fang's mouth, and his little eyes glanced around, alert.

"Hello!" exclaimed Hagrid, a tone of sadness in his booming voice. He knew that we were in detention, and he liked us.

We all greeted Hagrid with somber waves of our hands and scattered "hellos," but from behind us we heard Diane moan. "This is servant stuff!" she grumbled fussily, pounding on her cape.

Argus Filch, with a gleam of excitement in his narrow, sneaky eyes, handed his lantern to Diane, and then stalked back to the school to patrol. Hagrid rubbed Fang lovingly, then mumbled, "Can't serve you no detention t'day, I'm 'fraid, cause I've got duty. But, I've got a job to do, and although it's silly detention 'cause it involves goin' outside in the middle of the night when that's what you did wrong, you gotta help. Other teachers are on patrol, too busy to give detention, so come on." He gestured to us with a wave of his strong arm and we strode off in the direction of **(gasp! The plagiarized horror!) **the Forbidden Forest.

My heart nearly froze with fear, and I stood rooted to the ground like a tree, nearly petrified with terror. "H-Hagrid," I quavered, "W-we aren't g-going into the F-forbidden Forest, are we?"

Hagrid stared sorrowfully at us, his eyes dull. "Yup," he answered, "That's where I got business, Valerina."

My heart pounded as we slipped between the trees. I could hardly move, staring at what was around me.

The trees were tall and serious, like guards, their branches coated with drooping, rotting moss. The twigs and sticks branching out from the branches were crooked and slender, creaking in the chilling, haunting wind like hands reaching out for us. My heart skipped a beat. Mist clung to the trees, engulfing us, but everywhere the bushes rustled and twigs snapped. It was dreary and dismal, a forest of distress and fear. Shadows slipped all around us, and it was pitch black in the tunnel of eerie trees we were approaching. Silvery cobwebs hung from the branches of the trees, torn and tattered, and fallen cobwebs, along with leaves, carpeted the mossy, muddy forest floor. Branches and vines snapped at my face, and my shoes sank deep into the black muck. The dark was closing in all around us, terrifying and haunted.

Fog swirled through the trees, casting a miserable, bleak look over the woodland. The eerie breath of the wind stirred up the trees, making their branches bend together and the leaves shake, making it seem like they were whispering darkly to each other. Deep gashes ran through the bark in the tree trunks, looking like some fierce animal had been scratching the wood. "I wonder what made those?" I thought to myself, and my heart skipped a beat **(yet again.)**

We walked deeper into the engulfing darkness. Shadows were all around us, and the black trees were huddled together closely. The only light was the fading, pale shine from the two lanterns; the only comforting sound was the crunching sound of our shoes and Hagrid's big boots against the crisp leaves on the forest floor, and the soft pad-pad-padding of Fang's paws. But sometimes, _sometimes, _the footsteps seemed to come from something else, I thought.

I felt something brush up against me, and a horrible breathing sound, and my heart went wild! I smothered a scream, making me cough, and Pamella began to scream too. In a flash, everybody was running around, and Fang barked so loudly that we all stopped where we were. Whatever it was had vanished; slithered away into the darkness.

"I – I felt something brush against me!" I exclaimed, my heart pounding and my breath choking.

"It was only Fang," Hagrid assured, and, giving Fang a pat, he beckoned for us to come forward. Fearfully quivering from head to toe, the cold piercing us and making us feel lost, helpless, and uncomfortable, we timidly stepped forward. I looked behind me and in the lantern light, I saw Dianne's mocking brown eyes twinkling with merriment and her grin filled with crooked white teeth. "Oooh, you were so scared, ooh, baby," she oohed, then swallowed and walked on.

I felt a lump in my throat as I looked around nervously. Was there something moving between the trees? Was it a monster or a beast – or something worse? I faintly saw something black moving throughout the trees, and I gave a little yelp of terror and felt a jolt in my heart, but breathed hard to calm myself down. I was too scared to say anything, but Diane wasn't.

"Hagrid," she snapped, "I mean, dragging us out here in the dead of night? This is servant stuff, and we shouldn't be up in the middle of the night anyways! Why are we even down here?"

"Diane," Sadia reminded her, brushing her thick black hair out of her face, "That's the whole reason we're down here, remember? We – and you too, Diane – were out in the middle of the night. But we can't have detention, so we have to help Hagrid with his job."

Diane scoffed and Sadia stuck her nose up in the air. I didn't see how Sadia could even think of Diane's snobbiness when we were in danger, out in the middle of a forest filled with beasts and monsters.

"Hagrid," Sadia asked, "Why _are _we out here? I mean, what's the job you're talking about?"

Hagrid looked back, swinging the lantern, and answered gently, "Well, there's hard times up at the school. **(No, really?) **Dumbledore's worried; all the teachers are, and Hogwarts may be closed if we can't do something about it. So that's what we're for. Once I knew a wise centaur who gave advice in riddles and rhymes, and if I'm not mistaken he still lives here. So, I'm here to ask him advice, Sadie. That's what we're here for."

Slowly and cautiously, weighed down by fear, we trudged laboriously through the snapping vines, underbrush and shrubs. My eyes glanced around frantically at any new sound, making sure I glimpsed every detail in the forest, and my heart was panicking. I didn't want to go any further. I wanted to turn around and run back to the dormitory.

So I thought about Pansy. She didn't know what kind of danger we were in; she didn't know if she would live or not; she didn't even know what state she was in. If we were killed in the forest, Pansy would be friendless. She was shy and timid, and I was sure she would gradually get to know some other Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff first years, but she would have many enemies. Lavender and Parvati clearly did not like her, because of the way she defended us from them when I was trying out for the Quidditch team.

Suddenly Hagrid stopped, and my heart thumped as my thoughts shattered. Did he see something? But his words were less frightening.

"This is where we'll rest for a while. The centaur – he's called Midnight – Midnight lives miles into these trees, quite harmoniously with the other animals, and we'll have to journey all night to find him. Every good traveler needs a rest, so we'll set up camp here. Diane, you hang the lanterns on those good tree limbs, and we'll gather some firewood."

We had paused and gathered in a small clearing within a ring of elm trees. The clearing had no light, but a gloomy, leafy black roof of branches and leaves and various tree limbs to hang things on. There were rocks and logs, perfect to sit on, and a clear area in the center for a fire, but it was not a comfortable settlement. In fact, I felt a little frantic about resting, but eventually I had to join the rest of the group and set up a small campground.

I felt like a pioneer setting up a homestead, except this was no safe, cozy homestead but a dreary clearing in the middle of a haunted, dangerous woodland. Diane hung the fading lanterns on tree limbs, like Hagrid had told her to. She was beginning to realize, I supposed, where in the world she was and how she should react to it, and she didn't seem so wild, mischievous and nasty anymore – not very pleasant like everyone else, but calmer and nicer than usual. The rest of us gathered chips to make a fire and set them in the middle of the clearing. Here the dust had been burnt to ashes **(?)** and coals lay clustered, shining among the ashes, giving off a powerful, smoky-sweet smell that was choking to the nose. I felt lonely and frightened, out in the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night.

Sadia whipped out her smooth brown wand from her cape pockets and waved it briskly above the wood chips, muttering a few well-chosen words. The fire began to flicker and crackle, orange and yellow flames twisting around each other with blue shimmering among the broken logs, and a warm golden glow hung around the fire, warm and inviting. We sat around the fire, roasting our weak, shivering legs in the blazing heat, but my eyes couldn't help nervously glancing back to the wild forest surrounding us. What terrible beasts could be lurking in the depths of the shadowy, misty trees at this moment, waiting to strike?

Hagrid blinked and rumbled, "It's gettin' late. I say we take a little rest, then continue our search for Midnight. He doesn't like to be bothered in the early mornin'; none of 'em centaurs do."

The rest of our travelling party, even Diane, nodded their approval, except me. I thought we should keep going and make it to Midnight. Obviously, if he was a centaur, it seemed that he was our safety, our bodyguard in the forest, and if we should rest anywhere, it should be with him. I shook my head slightly and glanced worriedly into the shadows of the forest. Was something in there about to pounce right now? There were werewolves in the forest, and things much worse as well that I didn't want to run into. It was unlikely that we would survive this trip into the forest.

We all backed away from the flaming fire, watching the flames dance and flicker. They seemed to sway and turn in some special movement, a slithering movement somehow, that reminded me of a snake. Smoke began to rise from the fire, curling and twisting like a serpent, like the flames in the fire. It began to get eerie. They looked _too _much like a snake … too much …

Suddenly, it all happened. The flames lunged forwards in the long, curving shape of a snake, and my heart erupted like a volcano! Everything around me was rushing and screaming with fear, yelling and waving arms. But I was being chased around by the snake of flame.

As quickly as it had happened, all my fears of the forest were unleashed in one big BOOM! I let them all out in one enormous, ear-splitting scream, and my heart felt like it was on fire. The shimmering of the fire-snake danced in my ear, blinding me **(she sees through her ears?) **but I dodged to the left, and suddenly there was a hiss and a sinister snarl whizzing just past my ear. I shook my head, silent but screaming inside me, and I stood pinned to the spot as I watched the snake in astonishment. It was curled up on the ash-covered ground, but the flame was melting away and dissolving into thin air, and as each tongue of flame licked itself away, it revealed an ugly, hideous, coal-black serpent, its skin crispy and burnt, like ashes.

"AN ASHWINDER!" screamed someone behind me – I think it was Pamella – and all my thoughts whizzed back to a terrifying report I had heard about ashwinders. It was that day in Professor Kettleburn's class, when Hannah Abbott had read that essay on ashwinders. And now I was face-to-face with one of them!

I leapt to one side, heart blazing like the fire, as the snake lunged at my side, needle-like fangs ready to bite. I skirted, horrified, my heart racing, around the campfire, as the snake curled up on the ground, then uncoiled and sprang, straight as an arrow, into action again! My mid raced, as I desperately tried to remember everything I had heard in Hannah's essay, but all I could think of was one thing – to live!

I saw a flash of something on one side, and my friends were all around me. I glanced wildly at Sadia, my heart pounding, as we dashed as a group to one side as the snake lashed its tail at us.

"Don't worry – no, worry!" she whispered hoarsely to me, dodging a jet of poison shot from the snake's tongue. "Listen, all of these ashwinder body parts are fatal to anyone: poison, spat from the tongue, the bite of the fangs because they have poison on them, and touching the body, because it's so hot it could pierce right through your skin!"

My heart was on fire. "Thanks for telling me!" I exclaimed, half sarcastic, half grateful. I didn't know how I felt or what I should do, for everything except the will to live had vanished from my mind.

My legs kicked up in action as the ashwinder streaked towards us, spitting a stream of poison at me and whipping its tail around again. Diane screamed and leapt to one side; the snake had tried to bite her.

"DO SOMETHING, HAGRID! YOU CALL YOURSELF A GAMEKEEPER?" screeched Diane, rudely, and I felt like pushing her and yelling in her face – if we weren't in deadly trouble now.

"CAN'T!" hollered Hagrid, dodging to one side to escape the snake. Fang was leaping back and forth, howling loud and long, as the snake hissed viciously. I was so terrified and my heart raced so much that I could hardly do anything, even move.

"WHY CAN'T YOU?" Diane screamed back at Hagrid, bolting so far from the snake's tail that she nearly flung herself into a tree. She sprinted actively around the campfire, and leapt onto a rock for a safe hideout. "WHY? WHY?" she shrieked again. Her face shone in the light of the campfire, and I could see her cheeks were boiling tomato red, and endless tears rolled down them. There was a hoarse sobbing in her voice, and for a moment I felt sorry for even her, because we all faced either death or injury from the snake. Oh, I wished, I wished I could just jump forwards in time and find out what happened next, if this adventure had a happy ending, but there was nothing to but leap and scream. I jumped from the snake's poison, pushing Pamella out of the way of the snake's tail. Her eyes wide, she stared at me and whispered, "Thank you, Valerina! So much!" I instantly realized I had saved her life.

My breath was going in rapidly, in and out, in and out, and my insides were yelling and shrieking, but I couldn't utter out one sound. The snake was slithering like a lightning bolt across the clearing, spitting and waving its blazing hot tail. I gulped, and yelled, "HAGRID, WHAT CAN WE DO?"

Hagrid, who was on the other side of the campground, yelled back to me everything he knew about ashwinders. "They are formed when a magical campfire is left on too long! Ashwinders live for only one hour, but it hasn't been fifteen minutes yet! So we've just got to keep jumping like this, and dodging, and finally, the snake will die. But if we leave a magical campfire on too long again, this snake will come back, you see!" He nearly fell down backwards dodging a jet stream of poison.

The snake slithered away from Hagrid, past Diane, and towards me. It was coming straight in my direction, its tongue flickering in and out, in and out. In a second, that tongue would spit blood-red poison – and if I didn't move quickly, that would be the end of me!

The snake lashed its tongue and hissed deeply, flicking its sizzling tail with action, waiting to strike. I screamed, wild with fright, and with a great, powerful burst of energy, I sprang up and shot into the air with my powerful jump. Everything seemed to get smaller below me; then I yelled with fright as the snake swayed upwards below me. I saw my friends rushing forward to help me, Diane clutching Hagrid. My arms sliced forwards, and with a powerful thrust of my legs, I locked them onto a branch. The world flung around below me in a flash of color, and then I was looking straight into the snake's evil eyes. I could tell that somehow, somehow it wasn't just here for no reason. It was here for a reason – some reason that had to do with the Dark Plots.

For a moment I was dazed with fear and panic, and then I swung myself upwards and grabbed onto a higher branch with my arms. But I was stuck there. I couldn't run, and I couldn't go any higher because I would fall and the ashwinder would get me. I just clung, trembling with fright, to the branch, my long red hair drooping around on either side of me, blocking my view of everything else except the snake. I squeezed my eyes shut, fearing the end, fearing the red poison shooting up and hitting me. I could never save the school, I would never see Pansy, I would be gone forever...

I waited. Two seconds, and the snake was still hissing below me. One minute. Fifteen seconds. **(So Valerina can't count, either.)**

WHOOSH!

Below me, there was a yell and a few high-pitched screams, and the snake hissed so violently that I was sure it must have killed somebody! But the screaming persisted, and there was a loud clattering below me, the whooshing of hooves slicing through the air, and when I opened my eyes Hagrid and Diane were gathered in one corner of the clearing and my friends in the other. Fang was standing on two legs and barking hysterically, which made me giggle a little. Then I saw something else. The ashwinder was no dead, but slithering away into the forest. It was running from something … but what? Not another monster, not possibly?

Heart still beating **(hopefully!)**, my mind was still spinning, but I was settling down slowly as I shinnied down the tree trunk, trembling with fright. An eerie, gloomy look had cast itself upon the clearing, and the mist was swirling around the bony, crooked trees. The campfire was dead, the smoke was curling into the air, and the Forbidden Forest looked just as miserable and haunted as it had when we first entered. My heart seized up with fear as I realized what had scared the ashwinder away.

It was a man – no, not a man; a horse, with a bow and arrow. Suddenly I figured it all out. My heart relaxed – it was a centaur. The centaur stood in the middle of the clearing. It had powerful, muscular legs and a silvery, drooping tail. Its coat, glossy and flashing, looked velvety, and little glints of moonlight jumped from hair to hair. The man part of the centaur had soft black hair, like the body, and a wispy coal-black beard that collected at his chin like thick smoke. And I realized, relieved, that it was _the _centaur – Midnight!

I skipped over to take my place beside Pamella, staring into the tall centaur's wise, loving eyes. They were endless, as if they knew every story and everyone who had ever been on earth, as if they held secrets long forgotten. Midnight seemed ancient, powerful, and over all, wise.

Hagrid stepped forward and greeted respectfully, "Hallo, Midnight. These are kids from the school – those three are Sadia, Pamella, and Veronika, and this is Diane, and the one closest to you is Valerina, the one you saved from the ashwinder."

"Yes, hello, all of you," the centaur rumbled deeply. He had a mighty voice, but he was kind and gentle, too. "I see you have come to ask something of me … an ancient prophecy, perhaps?"

Hagrid answered, "Midnight, it's about Hogwarts. It's in trouble. There have been attacks up at the school; the Raven has been locked up"-

"I know, I know, the LINK is broken, and the Dark Plots are rising. Now, what would you like me to do? I cannot read the fortune in the stars of the night sky," Midnight mumbled, gesturing up at the sky. The glistening river of starlight, each star shimmering like crushed glass, wound serenely through the deep blue night sky that domed above the forest, curving past the pearly white moon. The moon shed its own misty light, which hung around it in the air. I could see nothing wrong with it.

"There is an air of tension, and the teachers, I assume, are anxious. I had the feeling yesterday as I was watching two crups wrestle each other in the forest, that something bad was happening, and I was correct – the sinister Dark Plots…" Midnight's voice was gentle, but it had a haunting sound to me, and a chill raced up and down my spine. But I was confused at one thing.

Twigs snapped under my feet as I raced forwards towards the tall centaur. "But Midnight," I wailed, "I thought the Dark Plots would only harm the school! Is it true that they will do harm to everyone in the Wizarding world, even the animals in the forest?" My voice had a distressful sob to it. This was worse than I had expected.

"Now, now, do not despair, child, there is hope," Midnight reassured lovingly. "But as for your question, you are correct. For when … oh, I suppose I should tell you the whole story. Now, as you know, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin were the founders of Hogwarts, and I'm sure you must have heard most of the story, but I must tell it again."

"Yes!" piped up Veronika. "We heard it in Mrs. McGonagall's classroom."

"Yes," Midnight replied. "Now, as you all know, Salazar Slytherin did not like the idea of Hogwarts. It was a school for good arts, and before becoming a founder he decided to join the Dark Side. Now the Dark Side was stronger than ever, and Salazar departed from the school to fight in the Dark Army. He decided to turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts, but first he had to get the other founders out of his way. He captured Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, making them his prisoners, and drained their strength with an unknown magical power, making them weaker. But Rowena Ravenclaw used her wisdom to free Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, who fought against the Dark Side but were very weak. In the end, most of the Dark Side was destroyed, Hogwarts was safe, and some of the Dark Side ran away into the forest to hide. Slytherin, who had survived, was one of those.

Ravenclaw eventually became too old to continue on the fight, and knew she must retire, but who would destroy Slytherin's evil plots? She decided, you know, to plan a LINK who had not been born yet. When the LINK was born, he or she would bond with the Raven of Ravenclaw, and they would conquer the evil plans. THE LINK must be wise, true, pure-hearted, patient, kind, loving … well, enough of that. Slytherin wanted to leave behind a LINK too, to fight Ravenclaw's LINK, but what animal would the LINK of Slytherin bond with? The Serpent of Slytherin was not very strong, and injured from battle, so Slytherin decided not to leave behind a LINK but an heir, known as the Enemy of the LINK. If either one of the members of the LINK was locked away, like one is now – the Raven – then the Enemy of the LINK could begin the Dark Plots, which meant strengthening a monster.

For when the Dark Army had been defeated, the Dark Wizards and the Dark Monsters would be too weak to continue their sinister tasks. But if the Enemy of the LINK destroyed the LINK in the distant future, then the Dark Wizards and Dark Monsters could rule again. But we don't know who the LINK is, or who the Enemy is, or what kind of monster is being strengthened in the castle right this minute, so we can't be sure. But don't think I can solve your problem in a wink. I'm not the smartest thing around, and even I can't figure this out for sure. But all the hints I know of are written up in my scrolls; I have then here in my satchel, and if I read it out to you, I hope you may be able to figure it out."

Shadows slipping off his glossy fur, Midnight reached back into his satchel and fumbled around. I could hear paper being tossed about, and I had to wriggle with excitement from head to toe. I was so happy inside, full to bursting, that I felt like squealing out a little squeak of joy – but Diane was here, and she might make fun of me. We would figure it out, finally! When Midnight read his scroll, we would know all the answers!

But Midnight's advice was not as clear as I had expected, but more confusing, with parts in the middle that changed what we knew now into a big puzzle. I would have liked more information, but that was what I got.

The centaur unfolded his scroll. I could see that the parchment was written on ancient looking, wrinkled paper with crinkles at the folds and rips on every corner. The paper was so tattered and torn that some of the biggest rips made the paper curl in at the edges, and the folds had been folded up so many times that there were thick creases on them. But in the center of the scroll, the writing was handwritten neatly, in long rows of writing, and Midnight began to read in a fluid voice. I listened intently.

"_Long ago, over one thousand and eight years,_

_Hogwarts was founded without struggle or tears._

_Of three of the founders, who lived in harmony,_

_One was on the dark side, and departed to flee. _

_It was Slytherin who left, to fight in the Dark Army,_

_But his side was defeated by the good many. _

_Oh, Ravenclaw so good left behind a LINK_

_Who would bring hope with her power to think. _

_Slytherin also left behind_

_Someone who would help his kind._

_The LINK'S terrible enemy_

_Is known as more to life than life can see. _

_The Dark Plots of the Enemy were planned,_

_To strengthen a monster and destroy the good in the land._

_Four should strengthen this fearsome beast,_

_Unless the fourth is love only._

_To destroy the monster, unknown and feared,_

_Is to use the greatest wisdom, without shedding hopeless tears."_

My eyes squinted and I thought hard, trying to make sense of all this, but I could not. It was very confusing to me; there were some parts I had heard many times and which made clear sense, like the beginning when Slytherin departed up until when the LINKs were formed. But the last things, about the Enemy of the LINK in particular, were more confusing. At first I thought the lines through very quickly, wondering if an idea would spring into my head, but my mind was empty. Then I tried to work it out slowly, but it only made it more confusing. My mind was full of questions, but there were no answers, it seemed, to the secrets of the ancient parchment.

My questions rang in my mind till I could not ignore them, and they bothered me. Now I wondered more and more who the LINK's terrible enemy could be, especially now that he was "more to life than life can see." Obviously, the enemy was something important in life, but how could something be so important, yet invisible? I also thought that the enemy of the LINK could not be Professor Kettleburn; he was not an important part of life, and we could see him. I glanced at my friends, and from their confused faces and dull eyes I could see that they thought the same thing. But how could Kettleburn be innocent when he seemed so suspicious and all our clues pointed clearly to him?

I thought about my second question. "Four should strengthen this fearsome beast," the fifteenth line read. Four of what? How could four of anything strengthen a magical beast, and how could the monster get them? Even more puzzling, what was this monster?

I puzzled over the line after that, hoping it would give me some clues: "Unless the fourth is love only," but it only made me even more hopeless. The fourth of what? What would happen if the fourth of what was love only? What did 'love only' mean?

But the last line seemed to hold the biggest secret, holding every answer to the puzzle in the prophecy of the LINK of Ravenclaw. "To destroy the monster, unknown and feared, is to use the greatest wisdom, without shedding hopeless tears." That sentence rang in my head, and I could not see what it meant. What was the greatest wisdom? Why would you have to try hard not to shed hopeless tears? Why would the tears be hopeless? Would you have to cry while using the Greatest Wisdom, because it was sad? I desperately wanted to know, but there was no further information.

At least, I thought, at least the prophecy had helped. A little bit. We now knew that Professor Kettleburn was innocent, and the enemy of the LINK must be someone else. But who? The prophecy had only lead us to another puzzle.

After bidding Midnight farewell, we trudged back through the forest, past the clearing where the Ashwinder had attacked, through the dark tunnel of trees, and finally we were out on the school campus, free from the horror of the Forbidden Forest. I had enough positive thoughts to make up a little joke inside my mind – we learned another thing from that trip, too: why the Forbidden Forest is Forbidden! **(Har, har, har, I've never heard anything so funny.)**

It all seemed dull and dragging as we trooped through the school, Diane departing and heading for the Slytherin common room as we continued on towards the Ravenclaw common room. The halls were dreary, dismal and empty, as well as the common room itself when we finally reached it. But in my heart, as I climbed into bed and pulled the thin covers up over my head, I felt that something big would happen, that I would suddenly know a big answer.

This thought was bursting inside of me, and my heart flopped as I waited for the impact to strike. I had a feeling something big was going to happen, but inside I just felt bored and tired. Grumbling with frustration, I rolled over in bed, kicking my legs, making the sheets on the bed toss and ripple. I adjusted my eyes to the darkness of the crack between my bed and Pamella's and stared at the boxes of books, wands and robes belonging to Pamella, Pansy and I.

I glanced up for a moment, staring longingly at Moonridge's cage. I missed her, and inside my heart felt like crying when I thought about how full of life Moonridge had been. I began to think further back, to when I first met Moonridge – I was outside, and then she just flew to me. I didn't know where shed' come from, how old she was, or any family background – except that she was my favorite bird in the world. And now she was gone.

I looked back, again, at the old books with their wrinkled covers and pages. I sighed, knowing that tomorrow, we would have to be studying them again, preparing for the end-of-the-year tests that were looming closer and closer. **(Another example of how my obsession with keeping the storyline as close as possible to a Harry Potter book completely messed up the timeline. As the story is fast approaching its climax, I had decided to set the time close to the end of the year, in July or so, just as it is in nearly every Potter book. However, the last time the date in the story was given, it was November 11****th****. A few days prior to that, on November 1****st****, the Jobberix egg was laid; it hatched a month later, on the date this Chapter takes place during, which would make this December 1****st****. If anything, Christmas holidays should be approaching, not the end of the year!) **I didn't know how I could ever study, when we had come so close to solving the mystery.

One book, one of Pansy's, especially caught my attention; it was lying opened on the floor. I knew that only Pansy would have opened it, because nobody else really liked to mess around with anybody else's belongings, not even Pamella, so she must have been reading it before she was petrified.

_Before she was petrified! _Before she was petrified, Pansy had been busy researching the LINK of Ravenclaw! This book might have some important information, although I could not read the page because it was too dark. I swung my body over the edge of my bed and snatched the book. The paper felt rough and crinkled against my numb fingers, stiff from the chill of the Forbidden Forest.

My heart raced with even more thrill as I realized that this was not a history book, but a _beast research book! _Certainly, Pansy must have followed the same foolish track as us, though, thinking the ghoul in the library was the monster and reading up on it. But I had been wrong about the ghoul, and recently I was wrong again about Pansy thinking what we had. The page that was open was not about a ghoul, but a ruenespoor. I searched down the page with my eyes and read to myself, excitement building with every word.

RUENESPOOR

_The ruenespoor is a three-headed serpent that it highly dangerous to all wizardkind. It is green with black stripes along its back, and was once a favorite pet of Dark Wizards, and is able to speak to Parseltongues, people who can speak snake language. They are very dangerous. _

_The ruenespoor deposits its eggs through its mouth. These three-headed snakes are fifteen meters long and found in Australia. When it comes to hunting and killing, all the heads work together. _

_The right head is the thinker. Being the smartest, it finds the prey and tells the other heads what to do. The middle head has sharp, poisonous fangs. But it does not use its fangs to kill, but to hold its prey still while the most powerful head, the left, kills. _

_The left head contains a single organ behind the mouth designed to suck up the strength of the victim. Once the strength is gone, the middle head can kill. _

At the bottom of the page, Pansy's handwriting read:

_I think the monster is a ruenespoor. _

I gasped. I had worked it all out! It all fit; nothing was left out! I had to tell my friends!

That was, I had to tell them tomorrow morning.

_**A/N: **_**The ashwinder and ruenespoor are actually real snakes in Harry Potter canon; information on both can be found in **_**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. **_**However, I took great liberty in depicting them as ferocious and highly dangerous monsters, whereas in canon ashwinders are not described as particularly dangerous, only nuisance as their eggs can ignite buildings, and ruenespoors are only around 2 meters long, as opposed to my outrageous 15. Also, the canon ruenespoor is vivid orange-and-black striped and originated in Burkina Faso, unlike my green Australian monster. The roles of the heads were also original creations: in canon, the left head is the thinker, the middle head the 'dreamer,' and the right head the critic with venomous fangs. **


	15. Valerina Jumps to Conclusions

_In Which Valerina Jumps to Conclusions_

_OR, _The Mush-Room and the Double Snare, part 1

February 20, 2004 **(Amazing! Valerina went to bed on December 1****st**** and woke up nearly 3 months later!)**

I stayed snuggled under the warm covers as all the other Ravenclaw girls jumped out of bed, dressed in their capes, scarves and ties, and rushed out the door of the Girls' Dormitory to begin the morning's free studying time. It was difficult to stay still pretending to be asleep for so long, while your eyes were really open and your heart racing with excitement for the new day. I had told my friends early in the morning, before any of the others were awake, to stay sleeping in bed while the other students rushed downstairs.

And I had told them I had figured it out. All of it.

Once the other students' footsteps had ceased clattering down the stone stairway and the chattering of the Ravenclaw students had faded, I cautiously stepped out of bed and tiptoed over to Pamella.

"Wake up," I whispered. "You wake up Veronika; I'll wake up Sadia. And then I'll tell you my plan."

Pamella, groaning and brushing her smooth hair out of her face, slid lazily out of bed and strode slowly over to wake Veronika. I left for Sadia. Once all my friends were awake, I gathered them on the stone floor. We had preformed the invisibility charm, so that if any teachers came in, they would not see us and think we were studying somewhere else, or perhaps in the bathrooms. **(Is all the secrecy necessary? Why don't they just tell the teachers what they think?)**

I read the paragraph out loud again, ending confidently with a well-expressed **(not to mention cheesy) **"I think the monster is a ruenespoor. Ta-da!" I snapped the book closed, and my friends giggled into their capes. I smiled and smothered a laugh.

"Now, it's time to get to business," I said. "We all know that the monster isn't a ghoul, so that was one of our failures. But with all our information, I think that the monster is a ruenespoor, except that's all I know. And I don't know that part about 'unless the fourth is love only.'"

My friends' eyes widened, and I felt a surge of excitement flush through my body. We had figured almost all of this out; that was what the big excitement I had felt last night was! **(Oh my gosh, REALLY?) **There were only a few bits and pieces that seemed confusing, including who the LINK and the Enemy were.

"Now," I said, "Think back to the capture of Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor. Remember, Slytherin took them his prisoners and weakened them? And all those kids in the hospital wing – they don't have the least bit of strength in them. They're all weak!"

I slapped the book on the cold floor with an enormous smacking sound that startled my confused friends.

"Don't you get it? Everyone's weakened! And that's what weakened them – the left head of a ruenespoor! That's why I think the monster is a ruenespoor. When the Raven was locked up, the ruenespoor was very weak, so the Enemy of the LINK needed to strengthen it. The monster is strengthened by other people's strength! That's what happened to all those kids! The ruenespoor cornered them, and the middle head **(the left head, actually) **sucked up all their strength, so the kids were left with no strength! They were weak, because all their strength had gone to the monster! That's how it's being strengthened! And I'll bet you anything those kids are in a coma. They didn't have enough strength, so they fainted! But it's a _magical _coma – they'll need some sort of magical potion or spell to wake them up; that's why they haven't woken up yet!" **(Can you say 'strength' a couple more times, Valerina?)**

Sadia and Veronika's faces were shining with delight, but Pamella looked sickened at the thought of what had happened to her sister. But I knew that when we figured this out, Pansy and all the other weakened students would be okay.

"Remember what Midnight told us – 'Four shall strengthen this fearsome beast,' or something like that? There were _four _students weakened – Katrina Labont, Priscilla Tamble, Erica Balls, and Pansy! Four is definitely enough to make the beast strong, so there won't be any more attacks! Unless that line, 'unless the fourth is love only,' is important; I haven't figured that out yet."

"Tonight," I said, "We try and figure this out as much as we can. Everybody get your books and research; we might find something important. History and beast books are the best, but any other book would be okay, too. Then, we'll try and find…"

What we had to do next was so terrifying I could hardly keep myself from trembling at the thought of it.

"We'll try and find where the monster is being strengthened. And we'll slay it."

**(Or, you know, you could just tell the teachers and leave the slaying part to the trained wizards instead of a bunch of ten-year olds, but nah, that's just ridiculous, isn't it?)**

***

But when we went downstairs and out into the broomstick-riding field to study, things were not as planned. None of the Ravenclaws were very happy at us, not even Bradley, for putting us in last place in the house cup. **(Blame Hooch's math skills!) **As we walked down the staircases and through the corridors, students dashed with tiny shrieks to the other end of the corridor to walk far away from us; in the narrow passageways some of the younger students stared at us with clenched fists and frowning faces **(get a grip) **and the middle-year ones hurried away whispering seriously; the last-years slouched away from us. Nobody turned their faces towards us; nobody walked with us. They deserted us, as if we were bad luck.

I did not think this was fair. We had only been trying to save the school; we could have saved them all from the Dark Plots if the ghoul had been the monster; yet all these heroic acts and confidence had made us end up to be the worst-recommended **(…?) **kids in all of Hogwarts. The Hufflepuffs, who were in first place, were however humble and did not speak of their victory. They remained silent and sorrowful **(why?) **in the hallways, but the Ravenclaws were a little disappointed. None of them hurt or teased us; they just deserted us, walked away from us and shot angry glances at us. Inside I felt unhappy because of the unfair treatment we received. _Winning isn't everything, _I thought.

Nobody looked at us in class; they only slouched in their chairs and kept their faces turned away. I was very angry, being deserted by my friends. The problem was, I had many friends and was in big trouble with them, but Pamella, Sadia and Veronika weren't in big trouble because they weren't as well known. **(Ah, the drawbacks of being a Sue!)**

However, we were all quite popular with the Slytherins, who were proud of their second place. They rushed over to us and complimented us, or just laughed, "Thanks, Valerina! We owe you one!" They did not help, especially not Diane and her gang, but only made me feel worse.

I didn't know why Diane wasn't in trouble with the other Slytherins. I guessed it was because they weren't in last place.

Although throughout that day we were half-excited, half-nervous about our planning we would do tonight, we had to pay attention all through class. In potions class, poor Veronika couldn't get her Shrinking Solution to thicken, and when Snape suggested she add a hint more dried leeches, it turned a muddy yellow color, quite unlike the greenish color it was supposed to be, and all the ingredients inside floated to the top and bobbed there. Veronika had to start all over again, and was still working on her Shrinking Solution when we were writing down what we had learned that class. She had to do that for homework.

Potions class was by far the worst class for me. We had to make our pets shrink with a dose of the Shrinking Solution potion and then make them grow to normal size with another potion we had recently been working on, the Gradual Growing Galore Potion, **(what…?) **but I did not have Moonridge so I had to borrow a school chameleon. I accidentally dropped too much of the Shrinking Solution on the chameleon, and it shrunk until it was microscopic. Snape had to revive it with a wave of his wand.

Sadia and Pamella didn't have their bad luck in Potions class, but in spell class **(Transfiguration, possibly?). **We were supposed to turn a beetle into a button and sew the button onto a coat with magic, then unsew it and successfully turn it back into a beetle. But Pamella turned her beetle into a coin, and then when Mrs. McGonagall told her to turn it back into a beetle and try again, she turned it into a bumblebee that buzzed around the classroom, scaring everybody's beetles away **(So beetles are scared of bees now?) **The children started to run around screaming and trying to defend themselves with their books **(from a **_**bee?) **_and in all the excitement Sadia accidentally knocked over the cage of spare beetles. It shattered on the floor and the beetles went skittering out.

Mrs. McGonagall eventually got the bee back on Pamella's desk, turned it into a beetle again, and lured back all the beetles, then magically cured the children who had been stung. I had not been strung, but Veronika and Sadia had **(Wait, don't bees die after they sting just one person?) **and Pamella and I went to comfort them. Then Mrs. McGonagall fixed the cage with her wand, but when I got out of the classroom, I found that nothing could be worse: Slytherin had received 50 points for a spectacular Quidditch practice, and was winning, ten points ahead of Hufflepuff.

We went down to the greenhouses to take Herbology lessons with Professor Sprout, and then went back upstairs for another boring Gilderoy Lockhart Defense against the Dark Arts lesson. We only learned about one spell and Gilderoy couldn't do it. Then we had lunch, charms, free studying time and a Beast Identification lesson. I was more friendly with Kettleburn now that I knew he was innocent. I asked him why he had his great bloody scab, and he said that a Slytherin kid practicing Quidditch had accidentally hit him in the head with the quaffle while Kettleburn was chasing a runaway mooncalf **(and that gave him a **_**bleeding wound?). **_I asked him why he had been so scared of the streeler and the picture of the sea monster, and he said he had had nightmares that they were both part of the Dark Plots, but when he talked to Dumbledore he said they probably weren't. I then asked him why he had gone into the Forbidden Section of the Library, and he said he had gone there to pick up a book on Beasts for a skilled seventh-year Gryffindor student.

Then we had our ten o'clock astronomy classes, so everybody went to bed late. My heart was tingling with astonishment as I clambered exhaustedly into the common room and piled into bed because I could not believe we had figured it out. It was amazing; something that had once seemed impossible was now solved. The monster, lurking somewhere in the school right now, was a ruenespoor. A giant, three-headed snake was strengthened in the school, plotting to destroy it, and not even the teachers knew how dangerous it was – but we did.

Then, a question wriggled into my mind. We might not have to face the ruenespoor after all. If we told the teachers about it… **(Now she uses her brain!)**

No. If we told the teachers, they would not be easygoing. They would be suspicious and ask many questions, and find out about the Jobberix and the secret hideout and everything we had planned. We would be in trouble, and points would definitely be taken away from Ravenclaw again. Worse, we would have more detention. **(True Ravenclaw wisdom there, huh? Between detention and almost certain death, she chooses death!) **But … it was detention that had helped us figure it out. If we had more detention, and kept getting more and more and more, we might even find out who the LINK was! **(*facepalm*)**

I brushed those thoughts from my mind and shook my head in disgust. That was a silly idea, I thought as I snuggled deeply into the covers. I waited for the others to fall asleep so I could begin planning with my friends, but as they shook their heads and grumbled in their beds, worried about and scared of the Dark Plots and the unknown Enemy of the LINK, I began to think some more. I loved to think, to gain knowledge in a quiet, secretive area. I could think up so many answers that it was almost like an adventure through my mind. And I looked forward to tonight, because for almost two hours, that was what I would be doing.

My eyes were growing more used to the velvety, shadowy darkness of the dormitory, and I peeked above my covers, glancing around for the clock. When I finally glimpsed its shape in the darkness, I read: 10:15. **(So astronomy class was about ten minutes long?) **Inside, I began to wriggle with excitement and impatience, because I knew that soon everybody would be asleep and we could begin our journey through wisdom together.

But it took longer than I thought. The Dark Plots were stronger than ever now, which frightened everyone, and everybody was tossing and turning in their beds, except for young Rebecca Turner, the girl whom I had saved from the broomstick. She didn't like late astronomy classes because they made her sleepy **(despite their short duration) **and she was now fast asleep.

I did not care if only one girl was asleep; I wanted everybody to be asleep! So I kept on waiting and thinking. Yes, it was a silly idea to want to get detention; we were only lucky that one time because all the teachers were patrolling. If we had detention again, we might have to scrub the floors or polish trophies in the trophy room, or sign autographs with Gilderoy Lockhart. We might even be expelled.

Half an hour passed, and then fifteen minutes, and by eleven o'clock everybody had gone to sleep, with some difficulty. Katie Bell and Brandie Tresant had been mumbling together forever about Quidditch and Alicia McTamble had been yelling something in her sleep about bludgers. Finally, Argus Filch had come in **(to the **_**girl's dormitory??), **_heard Katie, Brandie and Alicia, and scolded them all. He told them to be quiet, and Alicia woke up, and finally they all got back to sleep.

Once Argus had safely departed from the Ravenclaw common room and Katie, Brandie and Alicia had fallen fast asleep, I slipped silently out of bed and climbed the ladder of my bunk bed where Sadia was asleep. When she was awake she woke Veronika and I woke Pamella. By the time we were all awake and had put on invisibility charms and inaudibility charms **(seems Sadia has forgotten the spell she used last night to make them invisible and inaudible at the same time) **I whispered, "Sadia, where are we going to go?"

"Well," informed Sadia, tapping at her wand, "I think it would be best to research in the secret room behind the Ravenclaw banner, so we'll be safe just in case. Let's go down to the common room, then." She waved for us all to follow, and we tiptoed silently out of the dormitory and down to the common room. It did not seem as dark and eerie as it had when we first went down there to research the Jobberix, because we had been down here at night so many times. But I felt in my heart that something would go wrong **(although it doesn't. This sentence was probably left over from an earlier draft of the story where the entrance to the secret room inexplicably closed itself, stopping them from getting in.)**

Sadia went first. She scrambled onto the slippery couch, wobbling slowly so much that I rushed over to help if she fell off, but she regained balance and stared at the Ravenclaw Banner. We hadn't been down there for so long **(since last night, in fact!) **that it seemed just an ordinary banner, with nothing but cold stone wall behind it. But, of course, it wasn't. We all backed away as Sadia bent her knees, then pushed off with her feet and sailed through the air, exclaiming, "Ravenclaw!" Then, feet first, she slid through the banner. I could hear the whooshing sound of the wall sucking her in, then the clicking sound of her shoes touching the stone floor of the tiny room.

"I'll go next," I said boldly, then stepped on the couch. I hadn't done this for so long that I felt nervous inside. What if I did something wrong and crashed into the wall? I didn't want that to happen! I planted a foot on the couch and stiffened up, trying to be brave. "Ravenclaw," I sputtered, timidly, and bent my knees, then kicked off powerfully and flew through the air towards the banner. I squeezed my eyes shut, and then felt the wall slipping by behind me. Air rushed by on either side, and my head felt dizzy and hot, until finally I was dumped onto the floor of the small room. Now I remembered it more, how comforting it was compared to the darkness of the common room, how safe and cozy it felt. No teachers could ever find us in here.

WHOOSH! I jumped out of the way, startled, as Veronika streaked into the room, followed by Pamella. They both looked slightly dazed, because they hadn't been doing this for such a long time **(a whole day!)**

We gathered around the center of the room, all remembering when we had been hatching the Jobberix. Now it was flying free somewhere in the school.

"Now," Sadia explained briskly, "I've brought a bunch of history books and some magical medical books. Veronika, Pamella, you search for a cure for Pansy in the magical medical books. Valerina, you and I will look for anything about the LINK in the history books. Now, let's do it."

My heart burst with excitement as I grabbed a History of Magic book and leafed through it, hungry for information. My eyes scanned every page, hanging on to every word I found, but then I decided I should be looking for the LINK. I flipped to the L section, excited, but in disappointment found nothing but old Ministers of Magic whose names started with L, a notice on leprechaun banishment from villages, and the village of Lillipton being saved from a Dark Wizard attack. The words were very dramatic, and almost lured me into the story of what happened so long ago, but I was disappointed in finding nothing about the LINK. We searched for a long time, about half an hour, when Veronika gave a little cry of excitement.

"I found a cure for Pansy! I found a cure for Pansy!" she exclaimed. My heart gleamed with joy and happiness as we all rushed over to see what it said.

Veronika read aloud, "If a wizard or witch has been weakened by a ruenespoor, make the Ruenespoor Weakness Repellent Potion. Here it said to add water, heated milk, fly eggs – ick, ick, ick, I can't believe Pansy will have to drink this – five cups of dried leeches, seven bags of fly wings, and – oh, my goodness, this will be tricky – ruenespoor skin."

I sighed and rolled my eyes with disgust. "How come the most important things we have to do involve something so difficult!" I scowled in frustration, smacking my forehead with the palm of my hand. "Now we'll have to slay that awful ruenespoor _and"-_

The words had just slipped out of my mouth. I glanced nervously around at my friends. To save Pansy, we would have to do something horrifying, something risky, something we might die doing. If we were killed by the ruenespoor, what would happen to Pansy?

"Maybe I'll find some good information about ruenespoor slaying in my books, or we'll just think up a good way. After all, we're Ravenclaws, and we'll have to use our wisdom. That's the best way, and the only way," Sadia blurted out, immediately flipping through her books.

Some of the words that Sadia had said hung in my mind, like they were some kind of puzzle I had to figure out. "Wisdom…best way…I've heard those words before, and something tells me that I have to figure out what they mean in order to slay the ruenespoor," I thought. "Wisdom … best way, best way to _what?_ Best…" I was sure I had heard these words together before, in some mysterious ancient prophecy, somewhere. But where? When? How could they help?

That was the moment I remembered. "In Midnight's scrolls! Of course!" I exclaimed to myself. "In the last line, it said, '_to slay this beat, you need to use the best kind of wisdom!" _

That was it! The best kind of wisdom was not books, nor spells, nor classes! I had been thinking all the time that it was, when it was really something greater and wiser, something good and true that a real Ravenclaw would do. The best kind of wisdom was to give up your life for a friend, or at least risk it! So if we wanted to slay the monster not for awards and fame, but simply to help Pansy, we would end up winning the battle with the Dark Plots no matter what

I blurted my idea out to my friends. Their eyes and faces glowed with astonishment, and I realized that, like me, they had thought that the greatest wisdom was something to be found in a book. But it wasn't something in a book; it was something in your heart. **(Awwwwwwwww…………………………………)**

"You see, Sadia!" I exclaimed. "You don't need information to slay the monster, because the best kind of wisdom isn't information! If we slay the monster for triumph, and victory, to be rewarded and called great heroes, that's not using the greatest kind of wisdom! But if kill the monster to save Pansy and the school, that's greater than being a hero! That's being kind, being a true friend, being…"

Sadia finished for me. "That's being a true Ravenclaw." And to me, that seemed like the best wisdom of all.

We all stared at each other, quickly making sense of all this. It seemed like the kind of thing we had all been hoping to hear, something so noble and loyal that we didn't fear the monster so much. But deep inside me, my heart still glowed with fear. I was absolutely terrified of what we had to do, sometime soon. It would be brave and wise, but terrifying nonetheless. Really, I felt like I didn't want to do it, but I must do it for Pansy. For Pansy and the school, for all the petrified kids, and for the world. I must do it.

We were all frightened, but Pamella looked the most uncomfortable. A scowling frown spreading across her face, she bent over and scratched her leg vigorously. "Really," she scoffed, "This rug is itchy."

We all looked down at the small mat lying on the floor. It was made of dyed, woven straw, quite colorful and decorative, but the loose strands of spiky straw were scratching at Pamella's legs.

"Maybe we should move it," Veronika said, "so it won't get in the way."

Sadia and I nodded in agreement, and we stood up, stepped off the rug, each grabbed a corner, and lifted it off the floor. It was slightly heavy , and our joints ached when we finally flung it on the floor and went back to our corner.

But it was different somehow. It was so much more astonishing.

There was a trapdoor in the floor, where the rug had been. Musty-smelling dust an inch thick blanketed the top of the trapdoor. There was something eerie about it. What hidden dangers might lie miles and miles under this trapdoor in the darkness?

A chill went down our spines as we stared, mystified, at the trapdoor. Then Veronika made a shout.

"A trapdoor!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

"All this time we've been sitting here," she gasped, "and not _one_ of those times have we noticed this trapdoor. It's _amazing,_ spooky almost. Don't you think what I'm thinking? Don't you think this trapdoor is leading somewhere, somewhere to do with the Dark Plots?"

To my surprise, everyone, even me, nodded in approval. I was very nervous inside, and worried. If we discovered what was under this trapdoor, what terrible consequences might there be? Inside, I was thinking that it all might be worse – this trapdoor might lead to where the ruenespoor was being strengthened.

"Don't you think it leads to somewhere frightening?" I hinted to my friends. "Somewhere that has to do with the Dark Plots? I'll bet you anything,_ anything_, that it leads to where the ruenespoor is being strengthened."

Veronika nodded, and there was fear dancing in her eyes. "It's worth a try," she agreed. "I'm not in the mood for betting, but I think Valerina's right. I think we should all see where it leads tonight."

"Tomorrow night," Sadia said. Her voice was gentle, but it had a chilling sound to me. "Tomorrow night, we go down the trapdoor."

***

Tomorrow's classes passed by slowly, because I was so afraid of what we had to do tonight. Early in the morning we had potions class with Professor Snape, and we were polishing up our cauldrons for the big potions program we had tomorrow.

_Tomorrow. _Because of tonight's horror, tomorrow seemed so far away. I wished there was an easier way to kill the ruenespoor, but there was none. _None. _We had to kill it ourselves, tonight. For us, there might not even be a tomorrow.

After potions came transfiguration and charms, which dragged by slowly. We had to perform all the transfiguration spells and all the charms we were good at alone, and then get some help from the teachers to do the ones we had trouble with. After charms and transfiguration came, surprisingly, the dullest of them all – Quidditch practice. Because of our detention, even Quidditch had lost its fun. I couldn't even score one goal during practice. I wished we could practice Quidditch forever, though, so we wouldn't have to fight the ruenespoor. Of all the things we had to do today, I really, really, _really _did not want to fight the ruenespoor. **(No, really?)**

Nothing good was happening. I wished I could run away, far away, and have this all be a bad dream. But I also wished I could be brave. Being brave would be more important in this situation, because I had to do it. There was nothing that could stop me from doing it, but I could make it better by being braver.

The end of the day inched nearer and nearer, and its terror loomed. I was haunted and overwhelmed by the thought that I had to go down the trapdoor, and my heart quivered inside me all day. Every step I took seemed to lead me into a trap, nearer to the ruenespoor and the trapdoor. My heart pounded hard in my chest all day, and it was impossible to describe, in words, how terrified I felt. Inside I was screaming, but I remained quiet because I was in school.

The hours slipped by, each class leading to another. Our last class of the day was Herbology. Sadia, Veronika and I were going to the Great Hall for supper. Pamella wasn't with us because her sisters had asked her to walk back to the common room with them. _Supper. _I could not think about it, because what came after it would be the worst thing I would ever do. Perhaps the last thing. My mind was all foggy from all this worrying, and I tried to shake the distressful thoughts out of my mind, but I was trapped in fear of going down the trapdoor.

The ringing of students' voices echoed in the halls noisily, cheerful and enthusiastic. My heart lurched with fear as I remembered that the last time I had been cheerful like them was a long time ago, because of the haunting of the mysterious trapdoor. I swallowed hard, and tears sprung to my eyes. I quickly wiped them away, but inside I was ready to cry.

The chatter grew louder as we neared the Great Hall.

Suddenly, my heart skipped a beat and I stopped dead in my tracks – then, confused with terror, rushed forwards. A figure in a long black cape with shoulder-length hair was lying, unconscious, on the floor. She had been attacked! Bewilderment and worry rushed through me at the same time in one frantic panic. We had figured it all out, yet suddenly we were wrong? _Four _students had been attacked, and _four _was the amount! Why was a fifth now lying on the cold stone floor?

I looked at Sadia and Veronika, who had great horror in their eyes and distressful looks on their faces. But then came the biggest horror. It was worse than the spider attack, worse than the bludger hitting me in Quidditch, the forest's terror, the worry of getting Rebecca Turner off her broom, the nightmares – everything. It was the worst thing yet that had happened in Hogwarts.

Pamella was the one lying on the ground. It was Pamella.

That was too much. My heart went cold, and a sort of freezing pain of loss and despair surged through me, rooting me to the spot as all my thoughts rushed like rapids through my brain. And then, I could no longer hold it in. Because of everything, all the friends I had lost and the dangers through which I had struggled, I screamed a piercing, bloodcurdling shriek. It bounced and echoed through the corridors, and everybody in the Great Hall heard me. In a flash, the corridors were filling up with students and teachers. Some of the students were anxious; there was an air of tension and panic. The teachers' hands flew to their mouths, and through the tears clouding my eyes, I could see Madame Hooch nearly faint.

"It has happened," I heard Mrs. McGonagall whisper through shaky lips. "I am afraid this is the end of Hogwarts. It has gone far enough."

My heart felt lost, and I broke into tears. Not Pamella, it couldn't be! It _couldn't _be! Pamella, so loyal, true, patient, and brave! She had done so many nice things; the way her eyes had glimmered brought back so many memories, and they were crushing memories. The more I remembered her and all she had done for me made me miss her more.

Giant tears began to roll down my tomato-red cheeks, stinging and burning against my damp sing. The world got misty around me, and I couldn't see a thing through the clouding tears. I was overwhelmed by agony and grief.

Then, distraught, I fainted.

***

The next thing I saw was the domed, elaborately decorated Hospital Wing roof, and then the heads of my two remaining friends above me, staring lovingly at me. I felt somebody rub me, comfortingly, and looked up to see Kalinka Wispan and Penelope Clearwaters, the Ravenclaw prefects, and my sister Velma. I pushed myself up in the hot, blanketed hospital bed and, through hazy eyes, stared around. Everybody – the Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuffs, the Gryffindors, even Angelina Johnson, were gathered solemnly around me, but now with brighter faces because I had woken up.

"What happened?" I mumbled. "The last thing I remember is crying, and then falling down on the floor. Was it another daydream?"

Kalinka shook her head soberly. "You fainted; I guess it was because you were so scared and sad about Pamella. Well, the teachers will find a cure, I'm sure of it."

I nodded to show that I understood, but really I felt all was lost. I would never see Pansy or Pamella again, ever. Hogwarts would be closed, and I would be sent to a simple school that wasn't as good. There would be no more Ravenclaw or Quidditch, probably no more houses. And it wasn't likely that I would be sent to the same school as Veronika and Sadia. I had to say goodbye to almost everything I loved so much. Now I didn't even have Moonridge.

I couldn't bear the thought of it any longer. I had to cry, and cry, and cry until my eyes felt sore and red because of it. Everything was gone, and there was no hope.

Or was there?

I cleared away my tears and thought of the trapdoor. I felt braver now that I knew the only way not to lose it all would be to face my fears. Still, the idea of the ruenespoor was terrifying to me, even though I had never seen one of those gigantic serpents.

Tonight, I thought. Tonight we'll do it.


	16. Death by a Bad Pun

_Death by a Bad Pun _

OR, The Mush-Room and the Double Snare

**And so we approach the climax of our adventure! There'll be less and less author notes as we get closer to the finale. Brace yourselves; this is a long chapter, with enough unnecessary description to fill a Quidditch pitch. I actually had to edit out entire paragraphs of pointless detail because the chapter was just too long for my liking. **

Cree-ak... cree-ak... The rusty hinges of the trapdoor creaked with a horrible sound as Veronika and I lugged open the trapdoor. The rough, splintery wood dug into our fingernails and stung, and my muscles ached and stung, but we managed to heave the trapdoor open. It fell backwards onto the floor with a deafening _thud! _and dust wafted up from where it had fallen. The trapdoor had not been opened for years – perhaps a thousand years, which gave a sense of mystery and horror to it.

"We've done it," Veronika sighed as I gasped for breath, staring into the inky blackness. What lay down there? A chill ran down my spine as I thought of the Ruenespoor – a horrible, scaly snake, massive and fearsome, with needle-sharp teeth yellow with plaque but sharp as knives. It would have three heads waving and lunging, tongues hissing, with a screaming roar that sounded like someone's nails going down a blackboard. And the weakening head would be ready to strike...

Sadia's eyes were haunted with fear. Her words trembled like my heart did.

"Do ... do we really h-have to g-go d-down there t-tonight?" she stammered weakly.

"Yes," I barked firmly, pushing my fears aside for a moment. Just a moment, and then they came back. Did we? Did we really have to risk our lives, probably _die _down there, and did we really have to do it so soon? _Yes_, I thought again, thinking of Pamella and Pansy lying hopelessly in the cold hospital beds. If we didn't, they would be gone forever. This was the best kind of wisdom.

Cold, salty tears began to roll down my cheeks as I stared at the trapdoor, wondering what lay ahead. Our friendships had been broken apart; our hopes and plans had failed ... now all that was left was us three brave girls and this trapdoor, which was either a beam of hope ... or a ray of darkness.

"I'll go first," I sputtered through faint tears, staring at my saddened, terrified friends and then at the black depths beneath the trapdoor. I squeezed my eyes shut, fearing the worst, and inched closer and closer to the trapdoor. Suddenly, I felt a hand grab my cloak and pull me away. My heart froze in fear; then I whisked around in surprise and stared. I gasped.

It was little Rebecca Turner.

"How did you get in here? Don't you know you're not supposed to be up out of bed at this time of night?" Sadia roared, her brown face furious.

Rebecca's eyes looked gleaming and smart, as if she had done something important.

"Then why are you?" she asked lightly.

I snarled deep in my throat, then said, "Rebecca, if this is some kind of joke, then your fun's over. Go back to bed! How did you even get in here anyway?"

"I jumped through the tapestry."

"How did you know what to do? Only we know the secrets of the Ravenclaw tapestry!" I exclaimed, annoyed that she had found out our secrets.

Rebecca sat down casually, as if this was some ordinary thing that happened every day.

"Listen," she murmured. "Let me tell you _my _story. When you got out of bed tonight, I felt Sadia fall backwards against my bed when she tripped on my book. I thought something fishy had been going on, and since Sadia's bed is next to mine, I laid that book there so she would trip. When she fell into my bed, I woke up and saw you leaving. I wanted to follow you, to see what you were doing. So when you had left, I snuck after you. I hid behind a chair and saw you jumping through the tapestry. I was just about to try when I saw that bird."

My heart leapt in fear. Did Rebecca mean the jobberix? Was she going to tell on us?

"I saw that jobberknoll bird that looks like a phoenix."

Now I knew she meant the jobberix.

"And I thought for a long time as it circled around me, until I thought I'd figured out what you guys were doing. I knew that if it _had _been invisible, which you guys probably would have made it, then the spell would have worn off in about a week. It's been a week. **(It's been two days.) **And then that I knew this whole jobberix **(how does she know what it's called?) **plan of yours, I thought it might get you into trouble. The jobberix would have definitely heard _your _plans. Then, when it happened to die and explode into flame, it would repeat your plans and everyone around would hear it. Remember, jobberknolls repeat _everything _they hear when they die. Then the teachers would find out it was you ... and expel you.

But you're doing so many great things to help the school, I thought. I couldn't, just _couldn't, _let them expel you, because you're the only way the school won't be closed. So I stood up on the couch and grabbed that bird's foot, and hit it in my owl's cage. Rufus won't mind. She likes company." There was a sound from the girl's dormitory that sounded like Rufus and the jobberix were attacking each other. "So, that's all. Then I jumped into the tapestry to wish you good luck and found this place" – she looked around herself in amazement – "and now I'm wishing you good luck! Good luck!"

I was still angry at Rebecca, but had softened a little once she wished us good luck. "Now," I growled, "thanks for the luck, but you _have _to get to bed. And don't tell _anyone _about this, not _anybody, _not even Dumbledore and the teachers. _If _you do, we'll be very angry. Now, go back up to the common room."

Nodding, the little girl scrambled through the entranceway and was sucked away. My terror rebuilding, I turned back to the mysterious trapdoor. What hidden horrors lay at the bottom? The hairs on the back of my neck rose up and a shiver tingled up and down my spine. My blue eyes were wild with fear. Then I squeezed them shut, preparing for whatever happened next. I tucked one hand into my cape pockets and felt around for my wand. I felt a smooth rod and grabbed it. I inched my way towards the trapdoor, and suddenly the cold stone floor gave way below me.

Too frightened to open my eyes, my body tipped forwards, and I shot downwards. I felt around, but my shivering hands only groped through air. My heart plummeted like a stone as air whizzed by me.

Suddenly, my legs struck jagged rock painfully. My fall was stopped and I rose slowly, eyes still shut.

I shivered with fear, opening my eyes just a crack. Was the Ruenespoor nearby, lurking towards me? I didn't see any snake, though.

What I saw then was the dreariest, most haunted place I had ever seen. There wasn't even the bleakest strand of light slanting in from the rocky cracks in the ceiling. **(And how can you see, then?) **Everything around me was dark and dismal. It was a small cave with a low roof made of crooked, bony rock that appeared to be wet. Water dropped from the ceiling into small, murky pools between the rough rocks on the bottom. Stalactites looked above me like the teeth of a giant serpent. Rocks were everywhere, and the water made them slippery and damp. A dank, fetid odour hung in the air of the chamber. The treacherous, stony pathway ahead led deeper into the dark cave, but was blotted out by swirls of mist. A sudden shiver flushed through my skin as I imagined the Ruenespoor appearing out of the mist.

But there was no sign of the snake.

There was no sign of the snake, yet the carcasses of rats dotted the bleak surroundings. I shuddered, staring at the rotting, decaying skeletons. A foul stench hung around them.

I stared up again at the entrance to the trapdoor, wondering what was taking my friends so long. I gaped in astonishment as I realized how far I had fallen! I was far under the school. Above me was a vertical tunnel of rock and stone, which I had fallen through, the entrance now looking as big as an eraser. I could see the frightened faces of my friends through it.

**(Think about the physics of this for a moment. She's a nine-year old girl who's just fallen straight from the Ravenclaw Common Room, which is at least five stories above the ground, down to roughly the level of the Chamber of Secrets. There wasn't even any kind of slide as there was for Harry and Ron. Plus, she landed on rough boulders. It's either a miracle or a plot hole that she's not seriously injured or dead. I'm guessing the second one ;)**

"Come down!" I exclaimed. "It's quite filthy down here, and there're decaying mouse carcasses, but other than that I can't really see anything dangerous!"

"So you can't see the Ruenespoor?" I heard Sadia call.

"No sign of it yet!" I hollered back. My voice echoed and bounced off the rocks and stalactites on the ceiling so it sounded like one hundred girls were yelling.

I backed out of the way as Sadia shot down, her capes poofing out around her, then Veronika. They scrambled to their feet as the tiny light went black – Veronika had pulled the trapdoor shut as she fell.

They took a few awkward steps and glanced around in astonishment. Sadia stared at the misty opening and swallowed hard; then there was a crunching sound that made us all leap in fear as she stepped on a rat carcass. She gave a little yelp of terror as she stared at the mangled mess beneath her boot.

"This," Sadia scowled, "Is gross."

"Yeah, it's really creepy," Veronika added in disgust. "All that time we were in that chamber, working on the jobberix and stuff..."

I knew what she was about to say. "All that time in the room and we never even guessed that this" – I waved my arm around at the rocky surroundings –"that this was below us."

We were silent for a moment, and the only sound was the water dropping from the ceiling.

"This must be where the Ruenespoor lives," shivered Veronika. **(You don't say?)**

"That explains the dead animals – and _that," _Sadia explained, pointing at something I hadn't seen before. I gaped as I stared at winding tunnels in the rock and stone. Something heavy – like a giant snake – had pushed aside the rock and left these passageways. It had to be the Ruenespoor; nothing else could leave tracks like that."

I gulped in terror, my heart screaming inside. I could not bear to take a step forward; I could not _bear _to take a step forward. Yet how could I stay here like a coward, when the only way to save Pamella and Pansy was to slay the Ruenespoor? How could we make the potion to restore them without the most important ingredient – Ruenespoor scales?

"L-let's g-go slay the R-ruenespoor," I stammered, shivering in terror.

Sadia and Veronika had terrified faces, but they managed to nod. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and sweat poured down my neck even though it was chilly inside the dank cavern. I gulped, and slowly we started forwards.

"Let's walk in the snake's tracks," suggested Veronika. "We might slip and fall on these rocks, but in the tracks it's a clear pathway."

We all agreed and sauntered along in the tracks. Our feet splashed through the river of water. Ever so often we had to swerve around or duck under a stalactite, or kick a rat skeleton out of the way. Before long we were striding cautiously through the mist. Fog clung around me, and when I looked back Veronika and Sadia were only figures stumbling along behind me. We were nearing the tunnel, and suddenly the darkness swallowed us. I could feel the rocks and mouse skeletons, and heard Veronika and Sadia splashing through the water, but nothing was visible.

I whipped out my wand and shouted, "Lumos!" Instantly the tip of my wand began to glow with a luminous yellow light. Sadia and Veronika gathered around the comforting shimmer.

Pointing my wand ahead, I could see we were coming to a crossway. One rocky passageway lead right; the other turned left. I didn't know what to do.

"Which way should we go?" I whispered.

"Let's try left," Sadia decided. "It looks like there's a little light over there. If there's light, it might be our destination."

Veronika was terrified. Fear danced in her eyes. "Y-you lead, Sadia, if you know so much. I r-really don't w-want to reach our destination."

I agreed, and stepped back. Sadia now brought up the lead and Veronika brought up the rear. We continued down the dank, dismal tunnel. Jagged rocks jabbed out at us. Pools of water collected on the rocky ground. Something seemed wrong – there were no imprints of snake tracks on the ground now. My heart shuddered as I thought; _a snake might not go around here because of something worse than it, more dangerous. _But what could be more dangerous than a fully grown Ruenespoor?

Our trio continued for about ten more minutes down the tunnel, and every step we took led us closer to the light. Soon we came to a bend, and it was so bright around the corner that it drowned the light of my wand. Sadia turned around and held out her hand.

"You two stay here," she ordered. "I'll go see what's giving that light. If it's dangerous, I'll go back and we make ourselves invisible, then run to the other tunnel. If it's safe, I'll call you and you come, okay?"

"Sounds like a good plan," I mumbled, and Veronika and I backed into a rocky corner. My heart thudded with fear as Sadia rounded the corner and disappeared. Suddenly, she let out a blood-curling shriek, and I gasped.

"Veronika!" I screamed. "Give me your wand! I'll turn us invisible and then Sadia will come running around the corner. Then – we run like the wind!"

She handed me her wand, but Sadia didn't come. My heart raced as I heard her shriek again; then came a sickening sucking sound and her cries were swallowed. I screamed.

"SADIA! CAN YOU HEAR US?" I screeched. Then, to Veronika, "Sadia needs our help! Come on, run!"

We flew like falcons down the hallway, and suddenly the stony floor gave way! Below us was a large chamber filled with some sort of quicksand. The walls and ceiling were made of a slightly hardened version of this substance, too. And below us was ... Sadia, drowning in the quicksand!

"Oh my goodness!" I screamed. "Sadia, what is this?" **(A pit of quicksand, what else?)**

"A mushroom!" was her only answer.

I scowled in irritation. Was Sadia playing a trick on me? **(No, she's drowning, you idiot!)**

"What is it, really?" I cried, worried.

"I told you! A mush-room! They're really rare; a natural 'room' made of mush that sucks you in! But on all the adventures of great wizards and witches, they were there to block the heroes – and they pull you in just like quicksand! Nobody's ever come out alive unless they're fully trained! And we're first-years!" Sadia shrieked before she was pulled back under again. Only her waving fingers could be seen.

My heart pounded like a hammer, and I knew there was only a matter of time before that gloop pulled Sadia in completely! I curled up into a ball and flung myself off the edge. I plummeted downwards, air rushing by on either side. I was falling downwards, downwards towards the yellow mush.

**(For the following scene, please assume that the characters possess both the ability to hold their breaths for abnormally long period of times and the ability to see underwater – or under quicksand, or whatever.)**

My feet suddenly slipped into the mushy goop and, quicker than lightning, it sucked me in. I shot far under the quicksand, arms flailing, legs kicking desperately. I couldn't breathe, and the goop gripped be tightly, curling itself around me like ropes! I struggled, holding my breath, and kicked with my legs.

SPLASH! Veronika plummeted into the mush right in front of me. Determined to breathe, I kicked and struggled, digging my fists into the mush. But that just made it worse – the goop had coiled around my arms as well!

By now the mush-room was frothing and waving violently. Waves of quicksand slammed down on the surface and more mush engulfed us like the mouth of a monster. As each wave crashed down, more quicksand was added and the further I was pushed. My whole body was desperate for air, and I was drowning, but the mush would not let go.

_It's not going to let go, _I thought frantically, panicking. _If I don't do something soon, I'll suffocate! And then who's going to save the school! This is a terrible trap – the more I struggle, the more I kick, the goop coils around whatever I use to push! But if I relax, it will suck me in completely!_

I was suffocating; the mush was gripping me so tightly I couldn't do anything! I struggled in its powerful grip, but the ropes of quicksand only dragged me in further. Skin turning blue, I groped for my wand, but a strand of goop coiled around me before I could get it and shook me viciously. There was nothing I could do; I couldn't escape; the goop had trapped me.

Suddenly, Veronika was flung next to me by a wave. She didn't get it; she wasn't fighting the goop and so it swallowed her up even more quickly. Just then, a wave of the stuff engulfed her, and she was sucked further down than where I could see.

I wouldn't let Veronika drown. I had a plan. I did what I shouldn't do – I relaxed. The goop sucked me down. Finally it had pulled me to the level Veronika was at.

I wanted her to grab my arm, but I couldn't talk; I could only signal. I waved my arm at Veronika; then reached for her. The goop pulled at me, but I struggled against it. Slowly, I inched my way through the mush towards Veronika. She was unconscious.

Furiously, I lunged through the mush and grabbed Veronika. Carrying her would be a risk – she was heavy. But at least she could not struggle. I plunged upwards, fighting the goop, Veronika slumped in my arms' grip. One minute ... two minutes ... five, ten minutes passed by. I panicked frantically, because if I did not get to the surface quickly Veronika and I would drown. I kept swimming through the mush, punching the strands of sticky goop that curled around us, until, finally, we broke the surface.

Skin becoming pink again, I gasped for breath, pushing and struggling in the gloop. Air filled my lungs. I held Veronika's head above the surface of the mush, so she could breathe.

Suddenly, Sadia broke the surface beside us, gasping for air. "Veronika! Valerina! You made it!" she exclaimed joyfully, bending forwards to hug us.

"Veronika's unconscious." I told her the bad news.

"Unconscious. That's the worst state to be in in a mush-room. **(Apart from, perhaps, dead?) **Come on! Let's get out of here!" she screamed.

We fought the gurgling, bubbling goop and ducked, holding our breath, when a giant spray of mush flung itself at us. When the mush tangled around us, we fought and kicked, and although it curled even harder, we always managed to break free of it. Yet when we crossed the mushroom, we soon found another complication.

The door to escape the room was high up, and the slippery walls were made of more tangling mush! Climbing up looked difficult, but there was no other way to get out.

As Sadia and I bobbed in the mush with Veronika, staring up at the door in despair, the mush began to suck us down again!

"Help!" Sadia screamed, arms flailing wildly as the frothing, vomit-coloured mush began to suck her in deeply. In an instant, the grabbing of her arms stopped as the mush tangled around her and held her still, as if she had just been turned into a stone statue. The sickening mush swirled like a whirlpool around me, coiling around my legs like some constricting snake and sucking me into its own fetid yellow prison.

I was kicking and yanking my legs vigorously, sweat pouring down my arms and sticking my cape sleeves to my arms. Sweat stuck to the back of my neck like glue, flattening the hairs that trued to rise. It was exhausting trying to escape and gasp for breath, and carrying Veronika made it worse. But I could not let her go.

The arm that was holding her sagged and was limp and lifeless, worn out from the heavy body of the ten-year old girl. Every time I kicked I had to dodge another spray of foaming slime. My feet felt like they were being pulled by a Clydesdale horse or quick-drying cement, not mush. My body was exhausted and ready to give up.

_No! _I thought, barging forward with a sudden determined burst of energy. I would not die like a coward, like those little rats whose skeletons were lying back in the other part of the chamber. We were the only ones who had even come close to catching the Enemy of the LINK, to figuring it all out. We were the only hope for the school, for Pansy and Pamella, for so many things, and we had to fight our hardest over every danger we met. I held my breath, squeezed my eyes shut, and plunged like an asteroid through the mush. I felt around for Sadia and grabbed her. Then, carrying two people, I changed direction and pushed upwards.

When I broke the surface with Sadia, she coughed and spluttered, then gasped quickly, "This quicksand is getting steamed up! It's waving around and everything!"

I knew she was right. Without even looking, I could hear the monstrous crashing of mush tidal waves behind us.

"QUICK!" Sadia bellowed fearfully. Her eyes were wild with fear and her skin was trembling. "If we don't get out in five or less minutes, we're dead. The mushroom always collapses and caves in at this state, trapping and drowning everyone inside."

As she described her plan, I grew more and more terrified. Precious time was slipping by ... I could already see the walls and roof wobbling dangerously. Her plan would have seemed risky and nerve-racking if we didn't need to get out in such a hurry. We were to climb the wall side by side with me on the left and Sadia on the right. Our free hands would join in order to form a little carrier for Veronika's unconscious body. That was the only way to get out.

I snatched hold of Sadia's smooth, quivering hand and squeezed it so tightly my knuckles looked like little pink mountains tipped with white snow. We kicked at the much that entangled our legs and quickly adjusted Veronika so that she was slumped in our platform. Then, with only a few more minutes left, we began to climb the wall.

We scrambled quickly up, out of the corners of our eyes watching the mush pool getting smaller and smaller below us. If we were to fall into that ... I began to tremble with fear. My fingertips ached as I grabbed the platform in front of the doorway and, in timing with Sadia, pulled myself up. The walls were thrashing like a large animal that had been caught in a cage, and the mush was swirling like a whirlpool! Helplessly I tumbled to one side, squeezing my eyes shut, knowing there was no way I could avoid falling off the platform. All around me, the walls gave their final shake, and, mush bits flying like rain, lurched forwards! I gave one final shriek, fearing the end, and was suddenly yanked with a strong tug onto the platform and through the door.

"We – we made it," I stammered, astonished. Heart still racing with excitement, I stared around me, shaking weakly. Everything had gone by so quickly, so dangerous and so close, that now it all seemed it had never happened, like a distant dream from two nights ago. But no – that terror had been real.

I swallowed, and, brushing myself off, strode back to the doorway. Far below me, the sickening, soupy mush bubbled and gurgled, like yellow glue, before there was a tremendous crash as the walls caved in. I shuddered, thinking about what might have happened to us if we were still in there. Mush spurted up like blood from a wound. Dust clouds clouded out the fading view, choking up my throat. I had to close my eyes to escape the smothering dust, and, sneezing and choking, stumbled blindly away.

SLAM! Behind me came a sound that startled me and brought back my fears. I gave a little yelp of terror and whirled around it, to see in amazement that a rocky, steel-edged door had sealed off the entrance to the mush-room behind us. Suddenly I was living in fear and darkness again. I thought we had seen the biggest terror, but we were still in the horrid chamber. Fear grew inside me.

The chamber where we were now was no different than the first. Uneven, jagged rocks covered the floor, a slight layer of snake slime slathered over them, giving the floor a slippery touch. The ceiling was low and rocky, with stalactites hanging down. These stalactites did not look like normal ones, and my heart skipped a beat as I thought this. Beginning to panic, I took a closer look at them. They were rock, but polished and smoothed until they were sleek and glassy with a needle-like point to them. I faltered, and glanced worriedly over at Sadia.

Worry shot through me like an arrow. I scrambled down from the rock where I was standing and raced for cover, Sadia fleeing like a deer behind me with her black capes flaring. She was carrying Veronika. We raced through a small, rocky opening, and my heart thudded as we heard the stalactites smash into the ground, one after the other, like glass shattering. When the noise was over, and dust wafted up from the cavern behind us, we stared around.

This chamber was no different than the ones before. It was still rocky and putrid, and the same horrible stench filled the air. I looked around us, and suddenly realized where we were.

When we had come to the crossroads, we had taken the left turn. But this was just a big loop leading back to where it had begun – the entrance we had just come out of was the right tunnel! This was just a big trick. It was a red herring. Now we were stuck in the middle of the same chamber we'd first fallen into, and there was still no sign of the Ruenespoor.

I turned to Sadia, and looking in her eyes I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was.

"A _double snare," _she whispered, her voice drowned with panic and worry. "They're always there in the adventures of great wizards and witches! They always _think _they've taken the right path, but then it just leads them back to where they started, they realize they've been tricked, and then..."

Her voice trembled so much, I could hardly hear the words she said.

"And then ... the real danger comes."


	17. All the Really Exciting Stuff Happens

_Ruenespoor_

OR

_All the Really Exciting Stuff Happens_

**A/N: Here's the climax! No goofy author's notes this time, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone who's taking this mess seriously. Prepare yourself for cheesy moments, copied dialogue and major plot points being revealed over and over again in the final battle between Valerina and the Enemy! Seriously though, I wanted to rewrite this chapter so I didn't make the mistake of revealing the same plot point **_**twice, **_**but my sister convinced me to leave it the way it was in all its eleven-year-old glory. **

Immobilized with terror, I shivered. I thought again about the ruenespoor, and the terrors we would have to face. I tried to forget them, but they clung in my mind and haunted me, worse than ever. My heart really raced now. The terror we had been thinking about for almost the entire year ... was now probably a few minutes away.

A few minutes...

_A few minutes..._

My fingers shook with fear. The world around me grew hazy, and I became limp and weak. Then I collapsed to the floor.

My pale, cold skin struck the wet, jagged rock within seconds and pain flushed through my body. My arm burned and I hardly had enough energy to weakly lift it off the ground to rub my wound.

"Valerina! Valerina! Are you okay?" A voice shouted. I knew it well enough already – Sadia. But at the alarming tone in her voice, my heart leapt a little before I realized she was only worried for my safety.

Groaning from the stinging pain, I slowly pushed myself up, every muscle in my body aching and burning. Blood trickled from the wound and it felt as if an arrow had shot me there.

Sadia came rushing forwards, a look of concern on her brown face. Veronika was limp as a sock, dangling from her arms. "Valerina, what happened? Is it another one of your nightmares?" she screamed, slightly hysterical. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood. "Valerina, you're hurt!" she squealed, terrified.

I groaned again, pushed my red hair out of my sweaty, flushed face and replied, "No, no, don't worry about me. I quickly rubbed the bloodied wound with the sleeve of my cape. It still stung and there was a red splotch there as if someone had splattered paint on it, but the bleeding had stopped.

Dazed, I turned to Sadia. "What happened?" she exclaimed anxiously.

I sighed, wondering what to say. I knew the truth, but it was hard to admit. "I – I guess I was just so scared I fell down. But I'm coming with you, Sadia; I'm there for you and Veronika till the end comes." That was the truth. I would always be there for my friends, and if we all perished, we would do so together, no matter what.

I stared down at where I had fallen, and suddenly my heart leapt with excitement. The rocks on which I had fallen had disappeared! In their place was a wooden trapdoor, covered in musty-smelling dust. It had an ancient look to it, like it hadn't been opened since the war between Slytherin and the other Hogwarts founders, which brought out the haunted sense of mystery and danger on it. Part of me didn't want to venture any further. But I knew I had to be there for Sadia and Veronika; I had to. I had to save Pansy and Pamella by getting the ruenespoor skin. I had to save the school. All alone, if I had to. But I had to do it.

Panicking, I stared at Sadia, wondering what she was thinking. "Look," she said, pointing towards the trapdoor. "There's something carved underneath all that dust! Maybe it's a secret code!" Her eyes lit up.

I scrambled onto my knees and quickly brushed the fluffy dust off the trapdoor's cover. Sure enough, in ancient writing, words were carved into the rough, splintery wood of the trapdoor. I shivered. This was probably a message that Slytherin had written to keep Ravenclaw away from the trapdoor, coming back from the time when they were fighting, when the ruenespoor was born... My heart nearly leapt out of its body, I was so scared. Sweat trickled down my neck. Wherever this trapdoor led to was definitely where the ruenespoor was; where Sadia and I would very soon face our worst nightmares. In only a few minutes, we would face what we had feared for weeks on end ... the climax of our adventure ... the _ruenespoor. _Just the name sent shivers down my spine and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It had a horrible sound to it.

Sadia was thinking again. "Let's read the code first. It might have some extra information on it, about what we should do." We studied the writing.

_Better turn back, Ravenclaw,_

_Your peril lies within here._

_My power soon will rule all, _

_My snake defeats your spear._

_THE CHAMBER OF THE ROOPSENEUR_

"So, obviously, there's danger in here," I quavered nervously, staring at Sadia. "Slytherin tells Ravenclaw to turn back, because danger lies within this trapdoor." I grew more terrified with every word. "He's sure his power will soon rule everything, and, well...I guess the snake is the ruenespoor, but what does it mean by 'spear'?"

Sadia shrugged. "Ravenclaw probably had a lance with her, in case the ruenespoor came along."

My heart thudded as I stared at the last bit of the code, written all in capital letters: "THE CHAMBER OF THE ROOPSENEUR." Instantly, I had figured out what this meant.

"Roopseneur," I whispered shakily to Sadia, who gave a terrified glance at me and then at the trapdoor, "is _ruenespoor _spelt backwards. Slytherin didn't want to give away the secret of his snake, so he wrote Ruenespoor backwards." I stared at Sadia, both terror and fear rising inside me. We had met our climax. "This is it."

"This is it, Sadia. This is the Chamber of the Ruenespoor."

"We'll have to go down there, both of us, with Veronika," I instructed boldly, although there was really fear in my heart. "You make her invisible and all that stuff and hide with her in a corner, so she won't be in danger. You won't be able to see her because she'll be invisible, but you'll feel her. If I shout for you while I'm slaying, you hide her and then come and help me. We don't have a spear like Ravenclaw, so will fight with our wands, throwing charms and spells at it. If I don't" –

"No," Sadia interrupted.

I was astonished. All this time we had tried to figure out this mystery together, all this time we had pulled through all the dangers, and she said _no? _She was giving up!

"Sadia, you can't quit!" I screamed in desperation. "No, Sadia, come with me! Remember, we'll be with each other until the end!" A tear rolled down my cheek as I went on hoarsely. "Sadia, you're all I have left! Pansy and Pamella are unconscious and so is Veronika! I don't even have Moonridge! Come on Sadia, don't quit on me now!"

Sadia shook her head, a look of confidence and love on her face. She stood face to face with me and repeated,

"No. No, Valerina, I'm not quitting on you. But I can't go into the chamber. I'm not chickening out, but I have to do whatever I can to help Veronika. All this time and she _still _hasn't woken up. She's obviously swallowed mush; she's in great danger now. She could die, but I know some magical medical spells that could save her life. Long, complicated ones. I must stay here and help her."

Sadia stared into my eyes. I knew she was right; she must help Veronika. She added, "Listen, Valerina. It's you that has to go on; you. Not me, not Veronika, you. There's something special about you, something important – and not just that you're my friend. Something the whole world needs to know, and nobody knows. But you've got wisdom, and love, and truth that I've never seen before, Valerina. You're special. You must go on. Take Rowena Ravenclaw's place and go on. Come on, Valerina. Go on."

I heeded Sadia's wise words, but another tear rolled down my cheek and I burst into fresh tears. I hated to leave her, to leave all my friends, but in going into the chamber, I could be saving all their lives. I sniffled, and ran forwards to hug her.

"Oh, Valerina, you're a great wizard. You have to go on," Sadia cried, hugging me tightly.

"You're a great wizard too, Sadia," I sobbed.

Sadia let go and stared at me. "Me, a great wizard? Really, Valerina. Books? Studying? You've got talent and wisdom and love better than I have. You're the greatest wizard I know. Now, go. Go in there and fight for your life."

I sniffled and rubbed my eyes, thinking of Sadia's words. _You've got wisdom and love and truth I've never seen before. _What did she mean? What wisdom and love and truth? Sure, I was kind and friendly, and did well on my tests and never told lies, but she meant something bigger, I knew.

Terror building with every step, I walked towards the trapdoor. Grabbing hold of the rough wood, I slowly lugged it open and it fell over with a thud. I shot back one last glance at Sadia, then, eyes wide and heart racing, I jumped down the trapdoor.

WHOOSH! Down I plummeted like a stone dropped from a cliff into a lake, foul smelling air rushing by on either side. All around me it was pitch black. I waved my arms around in the air, and my fingers struck cold rock, painfully. I was falling down a narrow tunnel. My heart raced with fear of what lay ahead. I gulped and twisted frantically in midair, thinking, _what if the ruenespoor's at the bottom, waiting, with its mouth open? What if it's lurking somewhere? _I lashed my arms out, panicking, but knew there was no turning back now. I was falling, falling through the inky blackness, and there was no way to stop it.

My feet suddenly hit rock, and my body was thrown backwards with a painful thrust of my legs. My whole body burned with pain, and as I opened my eyes, I stared around at the miserable area.

It was a rocky, stony surrounding with a low, jagged roof covered in metre-long stalactites. Small pools of murky water collected in the cracks between the rocks. It was dark and dreary, with only a bleak light enabling me to see in the putrid area. The same foul stench hung in the air, and thick wisps of mist blotted out the passageway ahead. It wasn't a tunnel like every passageway before had been, but a long, straight pathway clear of rocks, presumably made of stone like the hallways in the safe, beloved school above. It hurt to think of Hogwarts when I was in terrible danger down here, miles below the common room, but I guessed that the danger was really everywhere. There had been attacks in the school, which meant of course the snake could get out of the chamber and come into the school.

My heart pounded as I stared at the dismal, gloomy cave around me. Behind me was a solid wall of jet black rock, but this chamber was bigger than the last. In fact, it was about the size of a gymnasium, including the chamber which the pathway led to. My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the other chamber. It was completely round with a misty light shining evil green from the top, with pools of murky, dark water spread out on the floor. On the wall, facing me, was an enormous statue of a ruenespoor ... a long, thick snake with three snapping heads and long fangs. I swallowed and gave a cry of terror as I pictured, in my mind, the real snake, looking exactly like the statue. So much like the statue, in fact, that I almost thought I could see it moving, or hear its breath. _It's just your imagination, _I breathed hoarsely to myself, but my racing heart would not settle down. I could tell it was a warning. I knew it meant danger was coming.

Unable to calm myself down, I rushed forward into the chamber, feet splashing and spraying droplets of water everywhere. Now that I was in the final chamber, the chamber where the climax would take place, I was concealed in fear and terror. I knew that suddenly the ruenespoor would come charging through the rocky walls and stone would come flying everywhere ... Bravely, I squeezed my eyes shut, swallowed hard, and waited for the impact to come. I groped around in my pockets for my wand. In a few second I would hear the crumbling noise, then rumbling, and then crashing as rocks tumbled everywhere and a huge snake would hiss and roar. Then I would open my eyes; I would be running around in terror facing my worst fear and shooting spells at the snake. Any minute now...

I waited, and waited, and still it remained quiet and placid. The only sounds were water dripping, and footsteps splashing through the water, coming towards me.

FOOTSTEPS!

In terror, I wheeled around and screamed! A boy was coming towards me. A boy. Just a boy. I breathed long breaths of relief, but my heart only raced more, and my mind got all clogged up. Only one thing was in my thoughts, and it blazed like a warning – run! I screamed again as the boy came towards me, but rooted myself to the ground and tried to stay still, shivering and trembling. Perhaps this boy was not evil. Perhaps he was just a student from the school, coming to help me slay the ruenespoor!

He was a teenager, sixteen or seventeen most likely, with curly brown hair clumped on his head. His eyes were narrow and cold, with a dreary, almost colorless grey in them. _Just the color of the grey walls in here!_ I thought, heart racing. His eyebrows were slanted downwards, giving him an unfriendly look. His clothes were long, drooping robes that swayed when he walked. Surprisingly, he had no badge or color on his robes to indicate which house he was in, and I shivered. If he was not from the school, where did he come from? _Maybe, _I thought, a cold feeling soaking into my heart, _he has been here since the war between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. _Fear settled inside me and did not emerge. Something was not right, and I didn't know what, which made me uncomfortable.

The boy's eyes were fixed on the statue of the ruenespoor as he strode up to me. He took no notice of me, and did not speak. I shivered inside. A chill tingled up my backbone.

"Who are you?" I said, trying not to show the fear in my voice. I stamped my foot on the cold stone ground, which attracted his attention. A sly, toothy grin spread across his mocking face. He made me uneasy, reminding me of Diane. But I tried to show no fear. All this time I had not let go of my wand. Now I whipped it out and pointed it at the boy, stalking angrily towards him,

"Who are you?" I yelled in a strict, demanding voice. "What's your name? I'm Valerina Tristont, and you are?"

He smiled his toothy grin again, making fear tingle inside me. "I already know who you are. Been after you ... well, _looking _for you, for years now. Now, at last, I have found you. I knew you would be here."

My heart thumped, and fear shot through me. I hesitated, but stayed where I was. How did this mysterious boy know me? Why was he looking for me? How in the world did he know I would be here? Something was wrong here.

"What's going on?" I screamed. "Who are you? Listen; there's this ruenespoor; we've got to slay it, can you help me?" Questions were building up inside me, but there were other things I had to find out first. Who was this strange boy? How could he know me, but I not know him?

"My name," he continued, in his smug, cool, smooth voice, "Is an odd one, given to me by my mother. My name is Ymene, pronounced yee-mee-nee, and my last name is Eth. But it is my name, and I am proud of it and what it means, for nobody else knows but I."

I did not like this smug Ymene, nor how he treated me. If he knew me, he must obviously be a friend of the family; yet here he was, treating me like some stranger! But worse, Ymene seemed dangerous, eerie, and haunted. How had he appeared out of nowhere like that? Something about his sudden appearance, and how he knew me, and how mysterious his name sounded, seemed to link with the ruenespoor, this chamber, and the LINK of Ravenclaw. _All the secrets we've been trying to figure out, _I thought, heart racing with an unsteady mix of confusion, excitement and fear, _are about to be revealed. Soon, I'll know everything._

"Listen, Ymene, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but this isn't a good time to talk. We can talk later. Now we have to slay this ruenespoor; do you know anything about it? Can you help me?" I snapped. I had so much more to say, but I couldn't say it all in one breath. Time was slipping by ... and I didn't like the way Ymene was striding so smugly and snootily around me, like there was nothing wrong here and it was time to talk about his name and everything else unimportant.

Fear grew in my heart. With every word, Ymene grew more mysterious and eerie. Still striding around me, he continued smoothly, "Yes, I know about the ruenespoor. I have known the snake forever, since the beginning of time ... well, _my _time. Through my time I have gained knowledge from the snake, and have patiently waited until it was time for me to do what I must ... what I have waited to do for years. And now I shall do it."

His voice grew more loud and threatening with every word. Now, he spoke quite loudly, like thunder crackling through a once silent sky. My heart racing with terror, I glanced at the statue of the ruenespoor. Every moment it seemed to become more real. I looked around, thinking of Sadia and the last time I spoke to her. _That may have been the last time I ever saw anyone I love, _I whispered uneasily to myself.

"Yes," Ymene added. "Now I must do what I have waited to do for years. I must meet you, whom I have been searching for for years ... and I must conquer you."

"What do you mean, conquer me?" I exclaimed.

Ymene's grin stretched ear to ear, and his eyes were mocking, narrow slits. I could see wickedness sparkling in them.

"I don't think you know who I am," he mocked.

Then he turned and whipped out his wand, pointing it at the statue of the ruenespoor. My heart was in my throat now. _It's time, now. Time to fight, _I thought, panicking wildly. My hand shivered, loosening my grip on my wand. I clutched my fists and watched what Ymene was doing.

He pointed his wand at the statue and yelled in a strong voice, "SLYTHERIN!"

_Slytherin, _I thought. _It's a password, I know. Ravenclaw was always the magic word for us. Now something terrible is going to happen, but I have to be brave._

Suddenly, a blood-curling, sinister, gravelly voice sifted from somewhere behind the snake statue! My heart thumped. _This is it, _I kept repeating frantically to myself, trying to keep my racing heart calm. _This is it, it's coming. This is it._

"_Whhhhhhhoooooo ... isssssssss ... it?" _the haunting, horrifying voice moaned. My heart panicked.

Ymene showed no signs of fear, which showed me he must be someone evil, someone against me. "It is me, Ymene," he answered in his swift-flowing voice.

"_Ymene? Isssssss thhhhhhhaaaaat youuuuuu, finallllllly, to sssssssset me ffffreeeeee, fooooor my reeeeeeeeeevengeeeeee?"_ hissed the terrible voice. A shiver ran up my spine and all over my body, feeling like spiders tiptoeing all over me. A cold fear stung in my heart. Still, I was holding my wand.

Ymene, to my surprise, did not respond. Instead, he strode through the opaque, murky pools of water, soaking his robes, up to the base of the enormous statue. My heart trembled, but I watched curiously and attentively. If whatever he did could help us solve this mystery, I should watch it. For the first time, I noticed letters engraved in the side of the statue, and I gasped in fright as I realised what they spelt – YMENE.

"_You," _I said, half in a whisper. "I can't believe it. You're the Enemy ... _you're _the _Enemy!" _

"YOU!" I screamed again, rushing frantically forwards. "YOU!" I roared, unable to hold in my anger. "You've been here all the time – you're the Enemy! You've been tracking me down forever because I've been the one trying to stop the snake! Now, you're old enough to do the evil deeds, and you've been setting the ruenespoor out to strengthen it! And now – you're setting it on me! You ... you ENEMY!"

Ymene remained calm because he was so positive he would win. A sinister smile on his glowing face, he hissed, "So, you've found out my little secret, have you? I imagined you would have found out in the end; you're so curious and nosy. Well, your nosiness hasn't saved you this time. I will call out the ruenespoor, and it will destroy you. Yes, I am the Enemy. I've been doing all these plots."

I stood immobilized, astonished at what I had discovered. Ymene was the enemy! Ymene had awakened the ruenespoor and started the dark plots, Ymene had set the ruenespoor on the five attacked Ravenclaws, Ymene was behind all this! But one secret still remained – who was the LINK of Ravenclaw?

That didn't matter now. My heart raced. I would soon have to face the ruenespoor, to discover if I would win or lose. I would have to be brave – brave and determined.

I stared again at Ymene. He was filling in the letters with the glowing tip of his wand. Red hot coals blazed in the letters, spelling YMENE ETH. As he backed away, a gleaming look in his eyes, he gave his wand a brisk twirl. I stared in horror, heart racing. I bit my lip to keep from sobbing with a little terror. What was going to happen next? A creepy feeling settled in my heart as the letters rotated, spelling the words again backwards.

YMENE ETH

THE ENEMY

"_You_..." I said, half in a whisper. "I can't believe it. You're the Enemy ... _you're _the _Enemy!"_

My heart raced as the blazing letters dissolved and the Enemy turned to face me, his eyes glowing with an orange light just as the letters had. I was immobilized in fear; I could hardly move, but tingling shivers raced up and down my spine like ten thousand little spiders. The Enemy's face had become a pale white, his eyes narrower and more sinister, his nostrils like those of a pit viper ... but his mocking, weird smile stayed the same. It made my heart race more than ever ... he must have something very dangerous planned, if he was smiling so. It seemed like he was sure he would win.

The Enemy began to talk again, and part of me wanted to race away and get Sadia and Veronika and never come back to this chamber again. But I also thought of Pansy and Pamella. How could I run? I stood rooted to the spot. Danger was all around now; I had no choice but to fight. That might mean no choice but to die. The Enemy's plans were most successful now; the only thing I could do was fight against them. Fight the ruenespoor...

The Enemy circled around me as he talked, each word growing more evil and sinister. "Now listen, Ravenclaw," he hissed threateningly. "Do you know who the Enemy of the LINK is?"

My heart skipped a beat. "But ... I thought it was you!" I roared angrily, staring into his menacing eyes. "Don't tell me that you've been tricking me!"

The Enemy smirked. "Yes," he said, "it is true that I am the Enemy of the LINK. But I am much more than that. I have been around from the beginning of time, searching for the LINK of Ravenclaw. I am the Dark Magic."

I stood in one spot, trying to make sense of all this. I was really confused now. My mind was clogged up, all my thoughts buzzing around. This seemed like a trap, or a trick. How could this boy, who was the Enemy of the LINK, be the Dark Magic?"

"No," I gasped. "That's impossible! H-how could you? You can't be the Dark Magic?"

The Enemy shook his head and gave a snicker of slyness. "I am not a real boy, young Ravenclaw. I am only Dark Magic, stronger than ever, personified in the form of a boy. Yes, Valerina. The Enemy of the LINK _is _the Dark Magic..."

**(A/N: Okay, when I said no author's notes, I lied. Just this one. For anyone who's confused here, what I meant to convey here was that the Enemy isn't a person – he's made completely up of black magic. He's literally evil personified.) **

His eerie voice trailed off as he stared at me threateningly. I could not bear to watch anymore. Trembling and biting my lip to keep from bursting into tears of fear, I squeezed my eyes shut, fearing the worst. I was still holding my wand. In less than a second, the ruenespoor might come charging forth, and I would have to shoot spells at it, trying to slay it. I shivered vigorously, heart hammering against my side.

The Enemy kept talking. "Now, Valerina, there is something most interesting you must see. It involves a certain ... _friend _of yours."

My eyes snapped wide open, heart erupting like a volcano. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The Enemy wheeled around in surprise, staring at me in astonishment. I could not hold it in! Pamella? Pansy? What had he done with them?

"NOOOO!" I screeched, throwing myself at the Enemy. He stared at me, startled, and backed away quickly. Fear was on his face. I raced at him, eyes blazing with anger. "What have you done with Pamella and Pansy? You're nothing but an evil, wicked, sinister _freak _working for Slytherin! NOW WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FRIENDS?" I stopped screaming but stared warningly at him, eyes wide, taking in long breaths. My heart was racing with fear, but inside it ached. Pamella and Pansy, two of my closest friends, in terrible danger. Nearly all my friends were gone. I couldn't let Pamella or Pansy die, not now, not in a thousand years! A slight tear rolled down my cheek.

The Enemy stepped backwards and gave another evil snicker. "Sticking up for your friends, are you? I imagine you'll go completely insane when you see what I have done."

He snapped his fingers, and suddenly a figure dressed in a black robe appeared, lying in the murky pools of water. My heart stopped beating, dead in its tracks. I stood there shaking for a while, then fell to my knees and stroked the girl's face. It was Pamella.

"No," I whispered, my words trembling and vibrating. I wanted to wake up, for this to all be a big nightmare, but no. It was Pamella lying on the ground, still and silent, not breathing. I felt her skin. My heart went cold. Her skin was like ice.

"No," I whispered again, staring up at smirking Ymene. My blood ran cold; I was so terrified. "No. No. Please wake up, Pamella, please, _please _wake up. No, don't be dead. Don't be dead. No..."

I didn't want to believe it, but I was sure Pamella was dead. She showed no signs of the bright, joyful life she'd had before. The flicker of light that had once hovered over her was gone. Pamella ... good, wise, patient, true Pamella ... she had been everything good to me, meant so much ... we had been so determined to solve this case ... now, she lay dead in the dank-smelling pools so far under the school. Nobody was even with her when she died.

Two diamond-like tears rolled down my tomato-red cheeks, burning like coal from a red hot fire. I could not hold it in. How could I be brave, or strong, or smart, when Pamella was lifeless on the floor? _It's over, _I thought. _It's over; it's over. I can't fight. Even if I slay the ruenespoor, it won't mean anything. Pamella's dead. There's nothing left of her; there's nothing left of the courage and bravery I once had._

I stared up at Ymene, hatred and anger in my eyes. "She can't be dead, you enemy. Just tell me she's not dead. I can't believe you've done this."

Ymene gave a sickening guffaw. "She's not dead; just barely alive. In a few minutes Pamella Parkinson will be dead, though. I did this to her. My snake, I suppose. You see, it attacked her, as you know. Then I stole her from the hospital wing this night. When the snake's ready, it will come and devour her."

I built up my lost courage, strength, and determination. "NOOOOOO!" I screamed. I couldn't believe it; Pamella was alive, but she would die! Unless I slew the snake. I didn't care for a moment about myself. Pamella was most important at this time, and suddenly I felt no fear. I must slay the snake...

"NO!" I yelled. "I will slay your snake, and the dark plots will be over. You haven't won this time, Ymene, and you never will. In a few minutes I will be ready. My spear will defeat your snake."

Ymene smirked and said, "I'm afraid you won't be able to do that. The Enemy has won, and will forever rule. The snake is too strong. Now, there is some information you don't know yet."

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW IT!" I almost screamed, then hesitated. If I didn't know this information, I might not be able to slay the snake ... to save Pamella. "I'm ready for it," I murmured.

Ymene continued to circle around me, and my heart raced frantically. "Now, I know you have heard the prophecy from the centaur Midnight in the Forbidden Forest. I know, because I was the one who sent the ashwinder at you. That wasn't really an ashwinder. It was me, turned into the form of a snake. I was so ... _disappointed, _when you managed to escape my fiery coils ... but I watched you read the centaur's prophecy from the safety of the forest. Ah, yes, I was sure you were interested in the line "_four shall feed this fearsome beast, unless the fourth is love only." _Now, you know that it means the snake shall be strengthened with four people. But you don't know the "love only," part. Now, from the beginning of time, what the LINK of Ravenclaw and all her followers have had is love. That is what the dark side has always hated and been weakened by. Now, when the snake weakened Erica, Priscilla and Katrina, what were they doing?"

"Nothing in particular," I snapped.

"Yes. They were safe for the snake to weaken. But Pansy was attacked when she was loving, using the Greatest Kind of Wisdom. She was risking expulsion trying to help you, by stealing the troll's tooth. She was using love. When the snake attacked her, it got her strength, but in her strength was love. The snake could not survive that. So it needed to attack a fifth student in order to survive. And it attacked Pamella."

I stared into space, amazed. So that was why Pamella had been attacked, when there already were four attacked girls. It was Pansy! Pansy had risked expulsion, used great love and wisdom, trying to help us find a troll's tooth. What if she had been caught by Kettleburn and expelled? Or killed by the snake? But she hadn't feared that; she had been brave and helped us. Love had been in her heart. So when the snake took all her strength, it took her love. It needed more strength to drown out the love.

Suddenly I asked, "So who locked up the Raven in the first place?" I suddenly realized I hadn't thought; of course Ymene had locked up the Raven. But the words had slipped out of my mouth too soon, and now Ymene was answering. But the answer surprised me.

"Yes, Valerina. Now, first you must listen to who the Raven is. The Raven was with you all the time, in your own bedroom. The Raven is your owl, Moonridge, disguised by Rowena Ravenclaw."

I gaped in amazement. This couldn't be true. I couldn't believe it. All this time I had been with Moonridge, loved her and cared for her, I had really been caring for the Raven! Suddenly a piercing, beautiful cry sounded. It had to be coming from one of the nearby tunnels, and I wheeled around, as well as Ymene. Moonridge was winging gracefully through the tunnel, swooping elegantly towards me. My heart exploded with joy! Moonridge! Overwhelmed with relief, I raced towards her, splashing through the watery pools. Behind me, Ymene stared with a look of anger and fear on his face. Moonridge circled around the chamber, still calling, and suddenly an amazing transformation took place. Her feathers became a glossy silvery-black color, the color of ebony; her body narrowed and her fluffy feathers became sleek and shiny. Now she was an owl no longer. She was a Raven, the Raven of Ravenclaw.

Tears sparkling in my eyes, I held out my hand to her. The magnificent Raven swooped down and perched lightly on my hand, then gave another melodic cry that brought more tears to my eyes. Now, I could not keep Moonridge; she belonged to the LINK of Ravenclaw. Once I found the LINK, I would have to give her back.

Now I stared at Ymene for the answer to my question. His words greatly surprised me.

"Yes, Valerina, yes. I see Moonridge has been transformed by Ravenclaw back into a raven. But you won't be needing her during the battle between you and the ruenespoor. Yes, Valerina, now I shall tell you who locked the Raven up. Listen, Valerina, yes. It was Pansy Parkinson who locked up the Raven, Pansy who started this whole thing. Your friend Pansy is guilty."

I gasped again. "No," I murmured, trembling. "She wouldn't! She couldn't! If she had so much love in her heart, why did she..."

My words were drowned out by Ymene's smooth, fast-flowing voice. "Well, because I told her to. I appeared to her in a dream, telling her the Raven was in great danger and it was really Moonridge, and that she must lock it up where it would be safe. Of course she believed me. So next night, I put her in a trance and she had to give Moonridge to me. That's why you couldn't find her. Pansy wasn't really doing any harm ... she didn't realize that she has made the ENEMY'S SIDE WIN!"

Ymene turned back to the statue of the snake and my heart burned red-hot with fear. I was rooted to the spot and shivers ran up and down my spine. I couldn't stand here waiting for much longer, I thought. The snake had to come ... but when would it? Fear was confusing and puzzling and gripped me tightly, drowning my only courage like quicksand, like the mush. Only this time, I would never get out. Not unless I fought for it.

As I watched, terrified, Ymene raised his wand to the air and pointed it at the snake statue. This was it. It was going to happen. In only less than a few minutes, the terror of my entire year at Hogwarts would begin. I felt like rushing forwards and telling him to get on with it so I could get fighting the snake over with, but I was engulfed with terror. Nowhere was safe; nothing was safe. No part of my body moved except the racing of my heart.

"Salazar Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four, now begin your evil plots; let your hidden terror soar." Ymene's words chilled me to the bones.

He chanted the haunting words over and over again. Each time his words got louder, my heart raced more, expecting the snake to come bursting out of its lair, but the poem was recited more than once.

Finally a gravely, bloodcurdling voice hissed from beneath the cold stone statue, the same one I had heard before.

"_Yesssss, Masssssssterrrrr, whaaaaaat isssssssssss it?"_

"Salazar Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four, NOW BEGIN YOUR EVIL PLOTS, LET YOUR HIDDEN TERROR SOAR!" Ymene shouted in a voice like an erupting volcano. Then he turned to me, and his face began to grow even more cruel and haunting. I nearly gasped and fell backwards when I saw the inexplicable hideousness. It was as white as chalk, with narrow, blood red eyes and no hair. Snake-like nostrils flared and evil danced on his flaming face. It was now more wicked and evil; not so much a boyish one.

"_Ssseeee what I am, Vvvvalerina?" _he croaked so icily I could hardly breath. As he took a step forwards, I gave a little scream inside me and stumbled backwards, terrified. My eyes could not bear to see that horrifying figure, but I could not tear them away from Ymene.

"_Sseeee what I am? I was never a boy. I am ageless, immortal, and more often than not invisible to the human eye. But I am such a huge part of life ... now lisssssten. I am the Dark Magic. I am not a living thing, but coming so close to my victory has made me stronger. I can become stronger and weaker, depending on how strong the Good Magic is. Now tell me, Valerina, what am I now?"_

I could not speak; this had taken my breath away. And nothing would make me answer to the Dark Magic. But something inside me jumped, which made me so terrified I had to scream.

Ymene slid back to the snake statue, and I stood my ground in front of Pamella's hunched body. Tears squeezed from my eyes. My heart exploded with fear. This was it.

"NOW," snarled Ymene, his voice starting at a hiss and then becoming more firm, confident and boyish like it had been before. "Let's match the power of the Dark Magic, the Enemy of the LINK of Ravenclaw, against little Ravenclaw girl Valerina Tristont and a little bird Dumbledore has sent her." **(A/N: Must... resist... urge... to... make... sarcastic... comment...)**

I groped around in my pockets for my wand, but I was so frightened I could hardly hold it properly. The weight on my shoulder lifted as Moonridge the Raven winged away and flew into a darker tunnel. I felt less brave without her; I wished she could stay and protect me. But what power did a Raven have against the ruenespoor?

As I watched, immobilized with fear, a small stone door carved into the ruenespoor statue – beneath its coils – opened, exposing a dark, murky tunnel. A terrible hissing sound echoed within it, and I stepped backwards. The ruenespoor was coming.

Beneath the shadows of the tunnel I could faintly see something moving, and the hissing grew louder and louder. Then it happened. The ruenespoor emerged.

One of its heads came first, then the other, and then the third. It was exactly the snake I had imagined and dreaded – covered in slimy scales of a dark, dreary green that you could easily call black. They were exactly the color of the walls of the chamber, and just as dank and murky looking. Slimy seaweed and snake goop covered its body, and its heads were covered in crusted, horny scales. Narrow, blood-red eyes matching Ymene's glared at me, full of hatred and evil. Their pupils were so dark and large they were like endless, dark caves, and they were focused on me. Its body was long and thick. This was a massive, powerful monstrosity of a beast, with needle-sharp fangs the size of knives glistening in its mouth. Some were yellow with plaque. Its three heads waved and lunged, teeth bared, with a piercing, screaming roar that sounded like long nails going down a blackboard.

For a moment the beast's ugliness and fierceness rooted me to the spot. My heart was motionless. Then, it raced, as the ruenespoor charged forwards.

My fears exploded as I leapt to one side. The beast came roaring like an enormous steam engine after me, smashing into one side of the chamber. Rocks flew everywhere, thudding and smacking onto the floor, and a huge cloud of dust filled the chamber. My heart raced as I heard a hiss and a slithering sound growing louder and louder. Was the snake coming?

I whirled around as the dust cleared. I hesitated and glanced about, seeing the snake still at the far end of the chamber. There was no time to think, no time to do anything but run. And the moment I took off, darting for Pamella, the snake was lunging at me. It was unstoppable, like a train coming towards you when you were on its track. Something green whizzed over my shoulder and the head snapped and roared. I was so close I could see its enormous, shimmering teeth and smell its sickly breath. The ruenespoor's breathing was like a hurricane, whipping my red hair around and flinging sticky scraps of meat it had been eating around the chamber. SMACK! A gooey strand slapped my face and blew off. I darted to the far end of the chamber.

Ignoring the water splashing all over my capes, I shot like a bullet through the murky ponds. Suddenly there was a tremendous splash behind me and I didn't have to look back to tell that the snake was ripping through the water towards me, foam and spray shooting upwards around it. The water slicing away from the ruenespoor's body was like a tidal wave! My capes wet and muddy, I darted to Pamella while I still could and lugged her motionless, wet body out of the snake's way.

_Hiss!_

I looked over my shoulder and my heart caught on fire with fear. I was staring into the blood red, plate-sized eyes of the ruenespoor's left head. I had no less than a moment to scramble away before another gust of wind from the monster's breath knocked me off my feet. I fell and struck the cold stone floor painfully. Water sloshed around me and the snake came speeding up. Before I knew it, the snake was right above my head.

This was the end. There was nowhere to go, nothing to do. No spell I knew was strong enough for the snake at this state; even the most powerful would just irritate it and it would devour me. I had failed. The dark side would win. I couldn't bear to think of Pamella's terrible fate, but there was nothing else to do. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the snake's horrible fangs to tear like swords into my flesh...

Before the snake could move, there was a piercing, harmonic cry. I looked up for a moment and, to my relief, realized that this was no nails-down-the-blackboard ruenespoor cry. A shadow thrust itself on the floor and winged out of the tunnels as Moonridge came swooping into the arena.

"Moonridge!" I cried, but suddenly realized, in despair, that there was no hope. What could a raven do to kill a horrible snake?

"Moonridge! Go! Save yourself and Pamella! There's nothing I can do!" I screamed, edging away from the snake and backing into the corner. I waved my arms frantically at Moonridge, motioning for her to go, but she did no such thing. What she did do amazed me.

Moonridge lifted high into the air like me on my Comet Power **(Wow, way to toot your own horn there, Valerina?)** as the snake made a lunge for her, but as soon as it stopped she darted down and made a dash for it. It swung its jaws clean through the air and snapped them shut, but Moonridge was out of the way. She darted again and again for the Weakening head, until she finally grabbed the mounds of crusty scales within her claws. The snake screamed in pain and shook its head vigorously, but there was nothing it could do to get Moonridge off it. She battered the head with her beak, striking again and again, and managed to rip off a few scales. Beneath her talons the head was getting weaker and weaker.

"NO!" screamed Ymene, but he made no other attempt to get Moonridge off. "NO! Shake the bird off your head! Kill it! Attack it! Other heads, strike!"

But ruenespoor heads are just as unfair to one another as they are to their victims. They care only about themselves and made no attempt to save the Weakening head. It gave one final scream and shrivelled up like a dead leaf. Moonridge lifted into the air, having done her work thoroughly, **(Uh... she's a super powerful raven? Yeah, let's go with that) **and then swooped away into the tunnels, piping her harmonic song. The weakening head, withered on the ground like a dandelion head, had rips and tears running through it, with blood gushing out of them. I saw what Moonridge had done, and although there was still great danger, I was thankful for it. Now the head, dead, could not attack me. It was the Weakener, the most powerful, and thanks to Moonridge it was out of the way.

The other two heads began to dive for it, hoping for a feast, but suddenly Ymene began to yell at the snake, giving it orders. "NO! LEAVE THE HEAD! LEAVE THE HEAD! LEAVE THE HEAD! GET THE GIRL! LEAVE THE HEAD! GET THE GIRL!"

He turned his evil, ghostly white face to me and gave a cackle of laughter. "Your faithful Moonridge might have destroyed the Weakening head, but the ruenespoor still has two other heads!"

Heart panicking, I frantically dashed past Ymene and the ruenespoor statue over into the rocky corners. The snake made a dart for me, the Weakening head being dragged along on the ground. I gave a furious scream and dashed to one side, but the snake's right head – the one with the poisonous fangs – blocked my only escape route. The snake was closing in on me!

"YES! YES! GET THE GIRL!" screamed Ymene. As the monstrous snake slithered closer, the right head was ready to strike. I scrambled bravely over the Weakening head and slid over the snake's slimy scales, dashing to the pool where Pamella lay unconscious. The confused right head didn't see me dash away and sunk its talons right into where I had been standing – the dead head.

I stood in front of Pamella, trembling with fear, as the snake slithered over to me. I realized it was still trying to eat Pamella, to get the love Pansy had out of its body. Then I remembered the ancient prophecy – _to kill the snake, use the Greatest Kind of Wisdom. _I gulped, because this meant I had to use myself instead of Pamella, which was risky. I would really be waiting to slay, but it was still very dangerous. At least this was a way I could get close enough to the snake to slay it.

"Wait!" I yelled to Ymene. "Don't let the snake eat Pamella. Take me in Pamella's place." My heart trembled, but I was sure this was what I must do.

"Accepted!" yelled Ymene. "Snake, leave the dark-haired one! Destroy the one you have been waiting to destroy forever!"

He laughed at me. "Once you are gone, how can you expect the snake not to eat your Pamella? And how can you expect the Dark Magic not to win?"

I glared at him and made no reply. I just pushed Pamella onto dry land and stood boldly where she had been.

"KILL THE GIRL! KILL THE ONE WITH HAIR THE COLOR OF CARROTS! **(*Facepalm*) **KILL HER!" Ymene screeched wildly at the snake. Before I could move it leapt forwards, teeth bared and shining. As the head shot forwards, I leapt out of the way, dodging the right head's fangs, and the left head smashed onto the ground.

Before the snake could make another move for me, I felt a mysterious tingling in my hand. I stared at my wand. It was glowing all over with a funny sapphire light, sparkling so brightly I could hardly see it! The wand in my hands flashed, sparkled, and then was a wand no longer. In my hands was a sword!

Gazing at the sword in astonishment, I remembered the message carved on the trapdoor – _my snake defeats your spear! _**(Um, you **_**do **_**realize that there's a difference between a sword and a spear, right, Valerina?) **So this was the spear, or sword, the message was talking about! I had used the greatest kind of wisdom, so that must have called the sword!

It was a metre long and made of steel, shimmering silver in the faint light. The point looked razor sharp, but not in a way as deadly as the ruenespoor's teeth. On the handle were enormous sapphires sparkling. Silver and blue – the colors of Ravenclaw!

Boldly, I stepped forward, raising the spear in the air so it would draw the light from some of the torches and shine. Then I tilted it again so the eerie flame light shone through the steel, catching the snake's attention. The ruenespoor growled and roared, then shot forwards like a bomb **(?) **from a cannon. Within seconds it was rushing upon me, heads snapping and lunging. Actively I darted and ducked, dodging the heads when they came near and plunging the sword at them. But it never got close enough to leave even a tiny dent in the scales.

Exhausted and terrified, I swung the sword again and again. As the snake turned, its tail slid across the floor, and I instantly had an idea. I did not know if it was for better or for worse, but it might help me, and I must do it now. Bravely, I jumped onto the tail and grabbed hold.

Clinging for dear life on a giant ruenespoor's tail was worse than going on the wildest, fastest roller coaster in the world. The snake felt my hands digging into its scales and it gave a low roar of surprise, then began to thrash wildly about. The whole world around me was blurry as I swung on the tail. The snake shook it vigorously, side to side, up and down, and sometimes even upside down, making me sick to my stomach. I faltered as my fingers slowly lost their grip on the slimy scales and I began to slip downwards ... down ... down ... down. I clawed uselessly at the scales, but my fingers were too sweaty to get a good grip. I screamed as one of my hands flew loose and my sword flew through the air and clattered onto the stone floor. I had lost my only weapon!

Suddenly the snake flung its tail in the air and in a second's time I was dangling from the snake's tail over the two snapping heads! I screamed and noticed a rock on an overhanging ledge nearby. **(Wow, convenient much?) **Grabbing it with one of my hands I threw it down at the heads but it only bounced off their hard scales. _This is the end, _I thought. Unless I can climb down the tail and sneak to get my sword, the heads will eat me. I need another rock!

I flung myself at the ledge again and grabbed a larger rock, thrusting it downwards. To my despair it bounced off the ruenespoor's scales again, but when it thudded onto the floor the noise caught the ruenespoor's attention.

My sword! The heads had seen my sword! My heart began to race with fear. That was my only chance, and if they ate it **(...?) **I wouldn't have a chance. I thrashed wildly, trying to escape, as the snake's right head picked up the sword in its mouth and fitted it between its two teeth. CLAMP! CLAMP! The snake gnawed uselessly at it, trying to break it! _What if they do break it? _I thought worriedly, and shook again, trying to get loose. Then a brilliant idea struck me like a spell flying through the air. What I needed now was Moonridge; she could fight the other head, pick up the sword in her talons, and bring it to me! But I didn't have Moonridge right now. Maybe if I used great wisdom again, she would come.

But I couldn't think of anything to do; there was no time. I had to act and think quickly. The snake had made a little dent in the sword and now both heads were ravenously trying to tear it apart. I swung myself at the ledge and gripped another rock within my fingers. It was the last rock on the ledge; if I didn't use this one properly there might not be any hope! With a scream of fury that alerted the fighting heads, I flung the rock down on the left head. The head was startled but not deeply hurt; however, it was a little dazed and did not attempt to fight the other one for the sword. The seconds were slipping by; there wasn't much time left. Bravely I uncurled my fingers from the tail and began to fall.

Down...

Down...

Down...

Down I fell, green scales and teeth whizzing by, until I landed on something green and scaly. The left head! Screaming, I reached back for the tail, but it was whipping too far away! All I could do was fight.

I grabbed bundles of the left head's scaly skin and it screamed in pain. I began to steer the head like a horse, using the scales like reigns. It wasn't really like a horse – the head thrashed, roared, and snapped, trying to throw me off. My heart raced as I tried frantically to stay on. Suddenly the left head swung itself towards the right head and I leapt forwards. This was my most daring idea and my last chance.

Disgusted, I shot my hands between the right head's teeth and grabbed the saliva-covered sword. Heart pounding, I squeezed my eyes shut and jerked the sword upwards – slicing right through the right head's brain and coming out the top of its scaly head.

I dropped to the ground and smacked right on the stony floor with a cry. Red hot pain surged through me like a rampaging river, and tears squeezed out of my eyes as I struggled to look upwards.

The right head was waving, growing weaker and weaker, blood streaming down like a waterfall from its wounds. A drop of snake blood dropped onto my hand and I screamed. Dashing out of the way, I stared from a safe corner as the right head wobbled dangerously and, with its last strength, dashed forwards and accidentally closed its teeth on the left head. There was a terrible cry of pain, and blood seeped through the wounds of both heads. The last thing I saw was the snake's heads giving me one final scream before they sank with a thud to the ground and a cloud of dust wafted up from where they fell.

A few moments of total silence passed as the dust cloud blotted out all light in the chamber. A few moments for me to rest. I felt a little liquid trickling against my leg and couldn't figure out if it was blood or water. When the dust cleared, I could see the chamber clearly again. My heart still pounded rapidly from all the excitement, and my mind raced in pain. A long, bleeding cut streaked across my arm from having fallen onto the jagged stone. I hadn't noticed it before, but it now burned with intense pain.

Cradling my limp, dangling arm with my other one, I limped over to the ruenespoor's finally defeated body and reached, disgusted, into the right head's mouth. Ignoring the blood and saliva, I reached around for the jewelled handle of my sword. Feeling the shiny sapphire, I grabbed it and pulled it free. It was spattered in blood and gore, but was still the same, trusty sword that had killed the ruenespoor.

_No, _I thought. _It's the sword of wisdom. Wisdom killed the ruenespoor. I killed the ruenespoor. _

Then it struck me. _I killed the ruenespoor using the greatest kind of wisdom. _

I fell weakly to my knees, and a new fear engulfed me: my broken arm. How could I ever get out of here? I trembled. I didn't want to stay in this horrible chamber forever, and die here, alone and in the depths of despair. It would be a slow, terrible death. I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't.

I needed Moonridge, or Sadia. Or Dumbledore. Dumbledore would surely know what to do! But all hopes seemed to be lost in this sullen, dismal chamber...

Ymene walked over to me, his narrow eyes glittering with evil in his pale face.

"You may have killed my ruenespoor, but it's remarkable how the ruenespoor always manages to leave its victims dying in – _complete – misery." _With each word his voice grew more menacing – as always – and, suddenly, he pointed his wand at me.

Fear shot through me like an arrow, making my heart pound. Instantly I forgot the sharp pains stabbing through my arm and leapt to my feet.

My heart flashed and I wanted to flee. NO! I couldn't leave without defeating Ymene; nor could I leave Pamella and the snakeskin!

I reached for my wand, but gasped. It wasn't there! More than anything now, I needed my wand!

Then I remembered – my wand had turned into a sword. Maybe the sword worked like a wand? Wasting no time, I grabbed it and quickly murmured, "Lumos!" My heart raced with excitement! It had worked! The point of my sword now glowed with light! It was a wand in sword's clothing – or in sword's steel.

"No," Ymene hissed. "I've waited too long." His wand was pointed directly at me. I tried to take a step backwards but was rooted to the ground with fear.

"You've defeated my snake," Ymene hissed, his chalk-white face shimmering in the faint light. His pupils, formerly rolling in his blood-red eyes, were now focused on me. My skin prickled all over with fear as if I had gotten all sorts of little needles. My mind was blurring, racing, frantically trying to think of something to save my life. But I was so frightened my mind was empty.

"You ... you girl," Ymene croaked in a sinister, snakelike voice. "You've defeated my snake. You think you can win. Now it's my turn to defeat you..."

His voice thinned and drifted eerily away. I was falling into mist ... fog swirled around me, but through it I could see Ymene's bulk darting for me ... he was almost upon me, his voice hissing and wisping away ... helpless, I pointed my sword, and instantly something white shot from it. White and powerful...

Ymene fell backwards, and the white light blinded me. Then I was falling into blackness, and for a moment, nothing happened. Nothing happened, as if nothing ever had.

**A/N: And that's why I generally don't write battle scenes, folks! **

**The next chapter will be the final one! **


	18. Revelations, Favoritism and Punishments

_Revelations, Favouritism and Unduly Harsh Punishments_

OR

_House Cup Winner(s)_

**A/N: This is it, everyone. The very last chapter of my very first FanFiction. No matter how stupid it got at some points, I will always have a soft spot for **_**Valerina and the Link of Ravenclaw**_**, my first step into the world of FanFiction. I hope everyone who has stayed on board this far has laughed their heads off and enjoyed every moment of this crazy ride. I know I have!**

Blackness. Blackness. I was falling into blackness.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, something gleaming gold glittered. The snitch? The LINK of Ravenclaw? Whatever it was, I reached for it. **(This must be a record, folks! Only one paragraph in and already a line copied almost word for word from Harry Potter!)**

Very funny. It wasn't the snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. **(See what I mean?)**

Then the darkness cleared, and I was staring into the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore. **(Bet you weren't expecting that!) **

Instantly I sprang to my feet, but what was this? Fluffy blankets? A bed? What were these things doing in the chamber? I stared around. Sunlight. A domed roof with wide windows. Beside me, many colored candies on a tray. Was I in heaven? Had Ymene's spell killed me? No. I recognized this place, where I had been so many times before: the hospital wing.

Suddenly it all came back. "The enemy ... the spell ... the snake ... the sword!" I exclaimed hurriedly, glancing at Dumbledore. "What happened? How did I get here? Where's Pamella?"

Dumbledore's calm, soothing voice made me relax.

"Do not fret, Valerina. I understand you have been through tough times. Now relax, and have a taffy." He indicated all the sugary sweets on the tray next to me.

For once in my life, I felt too confused for a candy. I had so many questions.

"Wait, Dumbledore, I have a lot of things to ask you!" I hesitated.

Dumbledore didn't leave. "That's why I am here. I figured you would have so much to ask me after your adventure."

I squinted, confused. "What? I mean, you know about all this?"

"Relax," Dumbledore said again. "I found you unconscious in the chamber, with your broken arm, and this." He reached behind the candies and picked up the sword. But I didn't pay attention to the sword. My arm had begun to hurt again, more than ever this time, but for once I was comforted.

Dumbledore seemed to know all my questions, because he started answering. "Well, it was your friend Sadia who really told me. You know, not only you had used the Greatest Kind of Wisdom down in the chamber. It was Sadia who did as well. She heard your screams of fear in the chamber. She left Veronika hidden in a safe area and leapt down the trapdoor. By that time Ymene was already weak, but he was still upon you. Sadia was the one who pulled him off. Then he just disappeared, and the Dark Magic in him flew away. Sadia risked her life for a friend."

I was even more confused. "What made him weak?"

"Your spell, of course," was his reply.

"I didn't do a spell. I only pointed my wand at him."

"Ah," said Dumbledore in a mystical tone. "Then maybe we should take a closer look at who the LINK of Ravenclaw is."

Dumbledore stared at me, and for some reason, he didn't answer. He asked another question.

"Are you brave, Valerina? Are you strong?"

I thought about this for a while. No, I realized. In the chamber I had almost been willing to run away, but it was wisdom and love that had stopped me.

"No, not really..." I began.

"Do you think those things matter?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well ... yes."

"Ah," said Dumbledore, holding up a finger. "Those things do matter. You must be brave and strong in life. But there are much more important things in the world, Valerina. There is the greatest kind of wisdom. Love, Valerina. The greatest kind of wisdom, is the wisdom to love."

I smiled, trying to figure this out. Love. So you didn't really need wisdom to be in Ravenclaw; you needed love, because wisdom was love. **(I suggest you re-read page 88 of PoS, where the sorting hat clearly says **_**"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a **__**ready mind**__**, where those of **__**wit**__** and **__**learning**__** will always find their kind."**_**) **But there was one thing I didn't understand. How did this tell me who was the LINK of Ravenclaw? **(C'mon, you **_**still **_**haven't figured it out?) **

"Who"- I began, but Dumbledore stopped me. "So, you have the greatest kind of wisdom. And...this is something I would like to tell you. It is very important." He drew in his breath, let it out, and then:

"You are the LINK of Ravenclaw, Valerina. You are the LINK of Ravenclaw. You and Moonridge, the disguised raven. Moonridge came to you when you were five years old. It was then that you were to begin your duties as LINK of Ravenclaw."

For a few minutes I couldn't understand a thing he said. How could I be the LINK of Ravenclaw? All this time ... all this wondering over who the LINK was ... how could it be me? Surely somebody must know? Everybody must know! It was impossible!

"B-b-but how?" I stammered.

"You were decided as the LINK of Ravenclaw over one thousand years ago, by Rowena Ravenclaw looking into the future. It was a troubled time. Dark wars between the good side and the bad side. If the Enemy was to find you... he would easily destroy a five-year-old girl. Many begged Rowena Ravenclaw to change to a new LINK, but you were a very wise, loving person, just right for the LINK. So Rowena Ravenclaw made everybody in the entire history of the world forget you were the LINK. All history books where your name was kept as the LINK of Ravenclaw were turned into her and that part was deleted. For four years this has been kept a secret. Now that you are nine years old **(because nine is **_**so **_**much wiser and more mature than five) **it is about time that it is restored to you. Your duties as the LINK of Ravenclaw have begun!"

I stared into space for a while. How could this be? It was so amazing ... that was why Ymene was so eager to kill me ... why he was hunting me down. Now ... at least, I got to keep Moonridge!

But my mind was bursting with more questions.

"So, I guess ... I'm the LINK of Ravenclaw," I gasped, still amazed. "So ... why did my spell defeat Ymene?"

Dumbledore smiled. I guess it pleased him, the fact that Ymene was gone. **(Can't imagine why...) **"Well, you know how there are three kinds of wands – dragon heartstring wands, unicorn hair wands, and phoenix feather wands? Yes, I suppose you do. There is one wand ... one wand in the history of the world, which is different. **(*Sue alarm bells going off*) **It would be the LINK of Ravenclaw's wand. Your wand. That wand you used so many times in classes, that faithful wand that helped you through the darkness of the chamber, does not contain any of those three cores. It contains one of Moonridge's feathers, a raven feather wand. I'd prefer you keep this a secret, because I don't want all the kids of Hogwarts asking too many questions, but you may tell your friends. Of course, all the teachers know. A raven feather wand is the wisest and most powerful wand of all the three, but not many people know about them. They're more in touch with the powerful phoenix feathers. Those are also powerful, but your wand, a raven feather, is the best you can get. Just one shot of power from your wand – which is what you did to Ymene, even if the wand was a sword – contains so much wisdom, so much, that even Ymene couldn't stand it. He collapsed in weakness, and then Sadia got there just in time to pull him off. Ymene disappeared, too weak to live, and the Dark Magic flew away. Nobody knows where it is now, or what form it shall appear to be next time. But I think that's enough worrying for you. You've had an exciting experience in the chamber, you have."

I lay back in my bed, astonished, taking in deep breaths of air. It was amazing how much I had learned in the past few minutes. Only ten minutes ago, I didn't even know I was the LINK of Ravenclaw. It was like something out of a fairy tale storybook. **(Or a ten-year-old's Mary Sue FanFiction!)**

"Wait, Dumbledore!" I exclaimed as he turned to leave. "Wait! What about the snakeskin! And my friends! How did we all get out of the chamber?"

"Well," Dumbledore began in his kind, wispy voice. "Sadia came back up the chamber once Ymene was gone. **(How? There was no ladder or staircase; Valerina just fell through the trapdoor, which was high up in the ceiling.) **By that time, Veronika was still unconscious. Sadia knew she couldn't carry the snakeskin for the potion, Pamella, you, and Veronika all at the same time! So she got Moonridge, who was flying around in the chamber, to fly up through the trapdoor for Dumbledore. **(Neat to know he talks in third person, eh?) **I went down the trapdoor with Fawkes, my pet phoenix. Phoenixes can carry heavy loads. He carried up the snakeskin. I also had a couple broomsticks. I sat on one while carrying Pamella and you, and Sadia mounted the other with Veronika. You know, Sadia is a very good broomstick rider; makes a fair beater. Well, the potion has been made, and..."

And that was the best moment of my whole stay in the hospital wing. Dumbledore opened the door, and in burst a joyful Sadia, Veronika, Pamella, Pansy, and even Rebecca Turner! **(Valerina's sisters don't seem to care for her much, do they?)**

Dumbledore smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Visitors," he murmured dreamily.

My friends came rushing forwards, arms opened in hugs, crowding around me and crushing me with warm hugs.

"Oh, you're okay!"

"I'm so glad!"

"Finally this is all over!"

"You're safe!"

"Oh, I'm so relieved!"

Tears foamed around the edges of Rebecca Turner's eyes as she hugged me again and again. "You saved my life once," she squeaked. "I'm so glad yours is safe."

I crushed her with a little hug. She gave a squeal of excitement.

After sharing all the sweets on the table, my friends sat down around the bed and I told them the story of the chamber. Pansy knew the least about it, next to Pamella. Rebecca knew only her part. Veronika knew the story up to the mushroom, and Sadia knew it up to when I went down the trapdoor. So for all there were new parts to hear.

Pamella, Pansy, Sadia, Rebecca and Veronika were a very good audience. They gasped in all the right parts and sighed in all the right parts. When I told them how Ymene's face changed from a boyish one to the snake-like one, Rebecca even screamed! **(Sounds sort of like how "Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places and when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud," from pg 218 of PS, doesn't it?) **But they all laughed when I told them, "And then you all came in and I told you the story I just told you!"

Pamella sighed. "So, you're really the LINK of Ravenclaw!" she exclaimed.

I nodded.

"That's amazing," Sadia murmured. "And how Moonridge was really a raven ... the raven had been locked up, and Moonridge had been stolen..."

Pansy gave a little sniffle and burst into fresh tears.

"What's wrong, Pansy?" I asked.

"I – I locked up the raven," she sputtered timidly.

"Oh, Pansy," Pamella beamed warmly, putting a reassuring arm around her little sister, who was drenched with rolling, boiling tears. "It wasn't your fault. Pansy, I love you. You were in a trance, Pansy. You didn't mean to."

Pansy stared for a moment at Pamella and then exploded with unstoppable tears. "I HELPED THE ENEMY!" Pansy wailed. "You could have DIED, and the Dark Side could have WON, all because of _ME! _I LOCKED UP YOUR OWL, VALERINA!"

"It isn't your fault, Pansy," I reassured lovingly. "It was all Ymene's fault, and I really don't care much. Besides, Moonridge is back."

Then I stared back up at Dumbledore. "Where is Moonridge, anyway?"

Dumbledore raised a hand that meant for me not to hesitate. "Fine, fine," he replied. "Your owl is fine. She is up at the owlery ... though she's a raven, she's still allowed in the school. The owls had quite a fit with her at first, but they've been used to each other for quite a while now." His misty voice trailed off.

**(A/N: Between my sister and I, the following part is notorious for the constant repetition of the word 'bean.' Therefore, every time the word 'bean' appears, it will be bolded.)**

"Now," he said, ripping open a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor **Beans**, "Who wants a **bean? **Now, Pansy, no one blames you, because it's not your fault. Here." He scooped one big hand into the glistening **beans; **there was a clinking sound of **beans **sliding against each other, and he offered Pansy a handful of many colored **beans. **

Dumbledore popped one into his mouth and offered everybody else **beans; **then Pansy started eating hers. "Mmm, strawberry!" she exclaimed, smiling, then nibbled a funny grey one speckled with black dots that Pamella begged her not to eat, and made a funny face. "Ick," she growled, "Pepper, gross!"

Madame Pomfrey burst in, and hurried all my friends out with their **beans **in their hands, her hoopskirt swinging, all the time yelling, "Now, I've let you in for about fifteen minutes, now OUT!"

I was sad to have my friends go, but the hospital wing was much quieter with all my friends gone. I could still hear their voices echoing and ringing in the hallways, but it was much more peaceful now.

"Now, Valerina," Dumbledore murmured in his kind, magical voice. I dug my finger into my glistening, clinking **beans, **and pulled out a strawberry cheesecake flavoured one. Chewing slowly, I asked, "Dumbledore, can you answer a few more questions?"

"Yes," Dumbledore laughed. "Naturally, I just have!"

I smiled at his little joke and ate what I thought was a cherry flavoured **bean**, then, "WHOA, that wasn't cherry! That was red hot pepper!" Dumbledore ignored my outburst and asked, "What questions was it that you wanted me to answer, Valerina?"

I answered slowly. "Well, you know that Quidditch match against Gryffindor, my first match?" Dumbledore interrupted with, "Great going, by the way."

"Well, you know that match?" I continued. "You know how I used the greatest kind of wisdom then? I stopped that bludger from hitting Bradley? How come I didn't fall off my broom? What made me so strong, and why did I see the flashing blue light afterwards?"

"Wise thinking, to remember that," Dumbledore rewarded, making me feel proud. "This is what also happened with the ghoul, was it not? How you fell on the floor but didn't become unconscious? Well, both of those times, it was Rowena Ravenclaw helping you. Didn't want to lose her LINK, of course. She took away all your pain, and the flash of blue was her disappearing."

I was confused for a moment. "But, it couldn't have been Rowena Ravenclaw, could it, because Rowena Ravenclaw lived one thousand or some years ago. She's already dead ... isn't she?"

"Ah," Dumbledore said, nodding. "But Valerina, the dead we love are not really gone forever. **(Aaaaaaand this time the ripoff's from PoA!) **They live inside your heart, and when you are in great danger, they help you ... strange but wonderful, isn't it? Your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great – well, let's just skip all those greats, shall we, Valerina? – grandmother will always live on in your heart."

Those past few minutes in the hospital wing had been the most amazing in my entire life, but this one put them all to shame. I was related to Rowena Ravenclaw. I was her great-great-whatever granddaughter!

"So," I sputtered, "I'm related to _Rowena Ravenclaw?_"This was half a question, half an exclamation. Dumbledore took it as a question.

"Yes, Valerina, and just for your curiosity, I would like to tell you this. You know those nightmares you have been having? They saved your life."

"_What?"_

"It is true, Valerina. During both of those occasions you could have been attacked by the snake. But if it got you ... it didn't want to weaken you. It wanted to kill you, for revenge. Rowena Ravenclaw couldn't let you die. So instead of dying, you went into those unconscious states ... and the visions you saw were warnings of what might happen. The shadowy thing on the floor was Ymene and the ruenespoor. The glittery blue thing was her. Sort of like Sleeping Beauty, isn't it? Instead of dying you go unconscious ... strange by wonderful..."

I had been lost in thought, when suddenly I shook my head and came back into the real world. Eating a chocolate-peppermint flavoured bean, another thought struck me: who had won the Quidditch cup? **(Yay for priorities!)**

"Speaking of broomstick riding," I called to Dumbledore as he turned to leave the hospital wing, "Who won the Quidditch cup?"

Dumbledore's eyes glittered with joy. "You've been asleep for over two hours," he said. "The last match took place in your sleep; I almost persuaded Madame Pomfrey to let you come and watch it, in case you woke up in the middle of the match, but she said no. It was Gryffindor against Hufflepuff. I'm sorry that Ravenclaw was in third place, but Hufflepuff have won the Quidditch cup."

As Dumbledore left, I felt a sort of fierce pride stabbing at me. Even though Hufflepuff wasn't my house, I was so proud of Velma and Ginny for winning. Hufflepuff, who had been teased and pushed around for years – beating Gryffindor! Hufflepuff, who were called bummers **(I had such a colourful vocabulary for an eleven-year old, didn't I? ;) **by every Slytherin and some Gryffindors, winning the Quidditch cup. My eyes glowed as I ate the last bean and sank back under the covers, satisfied. Hufflepuff's finest hour had come.

~~0~~

I couldn't argue with Madame Pomfrey for making me stay in bed the next two days as everybody else had their finals, because the fiery piercing pains in my wounded, broken arm had not yet healed. I found out it was the same arm the bludger had hit and I had landed on when the ghoul flung me, and earlier in the year the giant spiders had hurt it. "No wonder it hurts; it's been hurting all year!" Madame Pomfrey wouldn't stop saying as she put it in a sling. I had many visits from my friends, the Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuffs, and some Gryffindors – even Angelina Johnson. We were friends now, I thought. But I wasn't visited by the rest of the Gryffindor team, especially not Madeline Humor!

With the end-of-the-year House Cup coming closer and closer, Dianne and the other Slytherins were determined to win, and, knowing that they were in first place so far, acquired an annoyingly furious pride. Anyone who said Slytherin might lose or was against Slytherin got a word from Dianne **(so I guess that's ¾ of the student population, then?). **Pamella told me all about this which made me furious, and I wished I was better so I could stick up from my friends and defend them from Dianne. But Madame Pomfrey told me I must stay in bed.

This wasn't the only reason for Dianne to be angry. She was very upset that Hufflepuff had won the Quidditch Cup, leaving Slytherin in last place, and any Hufflepuffs she saw she clobbered. This was not fair at all; we just had to beat Slytherin in the House Cup. If I didn't, Dianne wouldn't forgive anyone! **(And she will if you beat her...?) **With Ravenclaw in last place so far and the House Cup drawing so near, I couldn't help worrying when I was stuck in bed.

I got letters from home and from Hagrid, **(why? Can't he just come talk to you in person?) **and Moonridge always carried them. A letter usually meant a long visit from Moonridge, and although my arm hurt, I wrote tons of letters to home and Hagrid. I wrote until I had writing cramps. I felt sorry for Moonridge, having to fly everywhere everyday while I was in bed eating candy. I really wished, for so many reasons, that I could get out of bed.

When the exams came I had to do them in bed. It was easy to write worksheets, but more difficult to do spells, and potions was the worst. Madame Pomfrey put an anti-potion spell on the bed, but chopping up dead leeches and stripping the skin from poisonous plants made quite a mess. I worked on a puffapod for Herbology and dirt and seeds went flying everywhere. After exams, I asked Madame Pomfrey repeatedly if I could leave the hospital wing. But every time I asked and she said no, my arm kept hurting, so I was glad she said no. But there was one time I just knew I had to get out.

Pamella, Sadia and Veronika were visiting and told me the news: very soon the House Cup would be awarded!

"You have to come to the feast with us," exclaimed Pamella, a look of fear in her eyes. "If Madame Pomfrey doesn't let you come ... wooh, that would be terrible!"

Sadia had a desperate look on her face. "She has to," Sadia blurted out. "There's never been a student who missed the end-of-the-year feast, never! **(*Points to the last chapters of Order of the Phoenix*) **If she doesn't let you come ... Dumbledore will. Great man, Dumbledore. **(Do I even need to point out all the stolen lines by this point?) **There's no way he'll let you miss the Cup, Valerina."

"Here comes Madame Pomfrey now," whispered Veronika as Madame Pomfrey, in her red hoopskirt, came bustling in. "You could ask her, Valerina."

I gathered my courage and sat up in bed. "Madame Pomfrey," I burst out as she put an enormous box of toffees labelled 'From Hagrid' on the tray next to my bed. A letter was pinned to it. My mouth watered, but I thought, _I'll eat the taffies later. _"Madame Pomfrey," I called again. "Can I go to the end-of-the-year feast? My arm doesn't really hurt anymore..."

"Of course you can go, Valerina. And it's about time we took these bandages off your arm. Wriggle it around, Valerina," Madame Pomfrey answered.

I wriggled my broken arm. It only hurt a tiny bit, as if it had been pinched by baby fingers. Now it was nothing like the fiery pain that had accompanied it down in the chamber.

I shook my head. "Doesn't hurt a bit," I said, and Madame Pomfrey began unravelling the bandages and the sling. I smiled and warmth spread from my fingers to my toes. I could go to the end-of-the-year feast, perhaps see Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw win. But even if Slytherin won, who cared? The effort of trying was to be celebrated. But deep down inside, I really hoped we won. Slytherin had won ten years in a row now and Gryffindor eight, or so Pamella had told me at the start of the year. Maybe Ravenclaw would be the next in line to have their name on the cup...

~~0~~

As we entered the Great Hall, the loud, buzzing noise struck our ears. Everybody was sitting down at the tables, yelling, laughing and talking. Children in colourful uniforms bustled and laughed, and nothing was calm and still. It was all exciting and thrilling. First-year students jumped up and down in their seats or banged their forks against their cups, squealing and squeaking with excitement. Seventh-years talked about their graduations, and how they hoped they won the Cup in their final year. As we walked between the noisy tables to the seats at the far end of the Ravenclaw table, we heard all sorts of talking. Whispers of "I hope we win the cup!" and "This year's our year of triumph!" echoed across the Great Hall. I hoped those whispers from the Ravenclaws would be true.

Dumbledore suddenly banged his fork against his goblet, and the clinking noise filled and silenced the Great Hall. Once it was quiet, he began his speech.

**(*Pulls out script of **_**Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone **_**and begins reading:*)**

"Another year, gone. An amazing one. But before our end-of-the-year feast, I am aware that the points need filling in and the house cup needs awarding. So we shall find out which house wins the championship this year, and the points stand thus:"

My heart raced with excitement, and a great hush hung over the Great Hall.

"In fourth place, Ravenclaw, with one hundred points."

My once-racing heart sank with disappointment. Last place. Dumbledore called it fourth place to make it sound not so terrible, but really it was rotten last place. At least, maybe Hufflepuff would win, but I wanted us to triumph just this once; Hufflepuff had already won the Quidditch Cup. **(Because saving the entire school and defeating not only a fifteen-metre long snake but also the embodiment of evil itself at the age of **_**nine **_**certainly isn't fulfilling enough.)** I just crossed my fingers that maybe, maybe, Dianne wouldn't win.

After a brief round of applause for Ravenclaw, Dumbledore continued with: "In third place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and twenty points."

I had to clap, along with the other tables, for Gryffindor. My arm hurt a bit with every jolt it took to clap, and Gryffindor's third place meant another chance for Dianne to win. Now it was Slytherin versus Hufflepuff – Hufflepuff had to win, they _had _to.

After the clapping died down, Dumbledore awarded, "In second place, Hufflepuff, with four hundred and fifty points."

My heart sank. I couldn't bear to see Dianne's smirking face when Slytherin was awarded the House Cup for the eleventh time in a row.

"And in first place, winner of the house cup, Slytherin house, with an impressive five hundred points!"

I nearly vomited but had to clap as the Slytherins cheered their heads off for the eleventh year in a row. Out of the corner of my eye I saw **Draco Malfoy – I mean, **Dianne Promptener banging her goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, **still eyeing the Philosopher's Stone script**, "Well done Slytherin, well done Slytherin, but, however – recent events must be taken into account!"

My heart skipped a beat. Did we have another chance?

A great hush fell over the Great Hall.

The Slytherin's smiles faded a little and Dianne's face was as white as Ymene's.

"I have some last minute points to award," Dumbledore announced, and some whispers broke out. I hugged my friends anxiously. _Please, please, please, _I was pleading with myself, we had to get at least a few more points. We could at least be in third place!

"First," Dumbledore exclaimed, and everybody went silent. **"To Miss Hermione Grang- **Miss Sadia Mueslin, for excellent thinking when others were in great peril, I award Ravenclaw house fifty points."

My heart began to race with excitement as everybody hugged and cheered for Sadia, and a great clapping broke out over the Great Hall. I couldn't believe it; my wish had come true!

"We've got one hundred and fifty points!" I exclaimed to Sadia hysterically, **for the benefit of Snape and the readers who can't do math. **"Thanks to you!" I crushed Sadia with a hug and then the Great Hall settled down. I remembered her idea to help us escape from the mushroom. **(Which was what, climbing the walls? It doesn't take a genius to figure that out.)**

"Second," Dumbledore awarded, "To Miss Veronika Tresant, for diving into someone's troubles **(see there? A pun! Dur hur hur) **to save their lives, I award fifty points."

A great cheering, stamping and shouting rose from the Ravenclaw table, especially me, Sadia and Pamella. We now had two hundred points, almost as much as Gryffindor! I remembered how quickly Veronika had overcome her fears and dove into the mushroom to save Sadia, which had nearly killed her in the end. **(I recall that she was actually the **_**last **_**one to jump in...)**

Dumbledore waved his hand which hushed the clapping tables. All the anxious eyes were now on him. How many points would be awarded next, and to whom?

"Third," Dumbledore exclaimed, "To Miss Pamella Parkinson, who although was in the Hospital wing, remained a great help to her friends, very loyal. To her loyalty I award fifty points to Ravenclaw house."

Another explosion of cheers rose from now both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. The groaning from the Gryffindor table drowned their clapping, however – our fifty points gave us two hundred and fifty, leaving Gryffindor in our dust. We had third place! Third place! For a moment I felt sorry for Gryffindor, but this was a competition.

Once again Dumbledore hushed everyone, and now said, "Now, the greatest kind of wisdom cannot be found in a book. It is not plain cleverness or being good at Quidditch or getting top grades. The greatest kind of wisdom is something we don't experience every day, especially in our violent world. The greatest kind of wisdom is love. **(So you're saying that people don't **_**love **_**each other every day? What?) **And love is what one very special Ravenclaw girl used many times. To Valerina Tristont, also known as the LINK of Ravenclaw, I award one hundred points."

I blushed and had no more than a minute to myself before I was surrounded by colourful capes, waving hands and congratulating shrieks and of delight. I was crushed by many hugs and deafened by many shrieks, and felt sort of embarrassed. Was I really as special as Dumbledore said I was? I didn't know, but as patting hands rained down on my back, I knew that we now had three hundred and fifty points! Almost enough to beat Slytherin! **(Not really...) **If this spectacular amount of points continued, we would be in first place! First place!

The Great Hall was hushed and I finally had some room to breathe. "Fifth," Dumbledore rewarded, "I award fifty points to Pansy Parkinson, sister of Pamella Parkinson, for using the greatest kind of wisdom. Without her, her friends might not have pulled through." I clearly remembered when she found the troll's tooth **(which ultimately proved useless)** for us ... and risked her life **(or just a detention)** doing it.

As cheers, clapping and yelling broke out for Pansy, I slapped her back many times. "My sister!" her big Ravenclaw brother Marvin was exclaiming. "My second youngest sister found a troll's tooth! Unbelievable! A troll's tooth! My sister! Second youngest sister!" **(Which in **_**no way **_**resembles what Percy shouted about Ron beating the chess game, does it?) **I was so joyful I didn't even care about the annoyingness of his saying "MY SISTER!" so many times. We now had 400 points, almost catching up to Slytherin and Hufflepuff! Maybe we could win the House Cup after all!

Dumbledore waved his hand, hushing the cheering for Pansy. "And sixth, I recall that somebody else was using the greatest kind of wisdom that night when Mrs. Tristont, Mrs. Tresant and Mrs. Mueslin went into the chamber. She could have been expelled doing so. And I hereby award one hundred points to the bravery, wisdom, and love of Rebecca Turner."

**WHAT!**

**I mean, just WHAT?**

**Yes, I was eleven when I wrote this. Yes, I had to think up some horribly contrived way for Ravenclaw to scrape a victory. Yes, I wanted to re-do a Neville Longbottom scenario. But this is just beyond words. This is the ultimate moment of stupidity of this entire story. There is no way, **_**no way **_**that Rebecca deserves the same amount of points as Valerina, who **_**battled a snake **_**in order to save the students. All she did was 1) not tattle on them, which doesn't require any amount of heroism whatsoever (plus it actually would have been **_**better **_**if she had, as the teachers would go fight the ruenespoor themselves instead of three preteen children doing it) and 2) wish them good luck. Plus, she didn't risk **_**anything. **_**All she did was get out of bed at night and walk around in the common room, which would have merited at most a gentle "Go back to bed, Miss Turner," had a teacher found her. One hundred points my foot. Just be grateful I didn't write the sequel where she got on the Quidditch team and filled a "Weasley is Our King"-esque role.**

**But anyway, the story must go on...**

Then every single other noise of the Great Hall, even Dumbledore banging on his goblet, was drowned out by the explosion of cheers for Rebecca. A volcano of stamping, chanting, cheering, yelling and clapping erupted right in the Great Hall as wave upon wave of Ravenclaws piled themselves high upon Rebecca. Sadia, Veronika, Pamella, Pansy and I raced over to the other side of the table where she was sitting to congratulate her. The short blonde girl was as red as a tomato, having earned one hundred points for Ravenclaw. Never in all this year had she earned a single point, and thanks to her, we had five hundred points – tied with Slytherin and overcoming Hufflepuff!

Even more whispers of "We're tied with Slytherin!" broke out than the cheering for Rebecca now, and a great hush fell over the hall. I was pleading for Dumbledore to give Ravenclaw house just one more point. But he didn't.

"Now," Dumbledore said, "Thanks to their spectacular win at the Quidditch Cup, I award Hufflepuff house fifty points! They are now tied with Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

**(Why did he wait until now to do this? Shouldn't he have just awarded them the fifty points right when they won? And surely a full year of training, dedication and sportsmanship is worth more points than a girl wishing her friends 'good luck'? Does Dumbledore just love contrived drama? I think the answer is yes.)**

I shot Velma and Ginny a thumbs up sign and we all waited, waited for what would happen next. I knew something big was going to happen, like we were going to win, or Hufflepuff was. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited as Dumbledore began to talk again.

"Now, never before have I taken away points at a House Cup, but I am afraid – and sorry – that I will have to now. Slytherin house has been very unfair and naughty this year," Dumbledore stammered awkwardly.

I could hardly believe what I heard next.

**(Neither can we, Valerina. Neither can we.)**

"Boo, boo, bad sport, boo!" yelled the Slytherins.

"SILENCE!" roared Dumbledore.

I couldn't believe it. Great gasps rose up from three of the tables, while one, the Slytherin table, chanted uncontrollably,

**(Get ready for it. Brace yourselves. This is the point of no return. Here the fic sinks into sheer, unparalleled idiocy the likes of which has never been seen before, or will be since. Read on at the peril of your own sanity.**

**Don't say I didn't warn you.)**

"Silence yourself, boo, boo, boo!

Silence yourself, boo, boo, boo!

Silence yourself, boo, boo, boo!"

"SILENCE!" roared all the teachers and houses at once.

The Slytherin table had never been more quiet and pale than now. They stared at Dumbledore's actually angry face and did not move their lips the tiniest bit.

"Never, never, have Slytherin students been such a disgrace," growled Professor Snape. "I am very disappointed. After the feast there will be detention for all of you – clearing up the mess in the great hall. I will be there to make sure you behave. Now BE QUIET and LISTEN TO PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!"

I was sure I saw a tear sparkle in Dianne's eye. For a split second I actually felt a little sorry for her.

"Settle down, Professor Snape," Dumbledore murmured, and Snape sat down with a furious look on his face. "But I do not deny what Snape said. Slytherin house will all have detention, exactly how Snape explained it. But I have more to say. For that rude and unimaginable outburst I will be taking 50 points from Slytherin."

I nearly gave a little scream of delight but it was drowned out by the Slytherins' swearing, fussing and complaining. We were in first place! But the absence of fifty points gave Slytherin four hundred and fifty points, still making Gryffindor in last place. I didn't want rotten, mean Slytherin to overcome my friends in Gryffindor.

"And at several Quidditch matches I witnessed unacceptable cheating from the Slytherins – once a Gryffindor player flew very close to the Slytherin seating stands and a Slytherin girl," (Dianne scowled as if the memory still brought shame to her) "jumped out of the seats and grabbed the broom! She hung there for a moment, grabbing the Gryffindor's robes to try and yank her off her broom, until Madame Hooch had to swoop over on a broom and pull the Slytherin off! The Quidditch team of Slytherin house also cheated many times during matches – riding their brooms close to the goalposts and grabbing onto the goal posts to easily slip the quaffle in, throwing bludgers at commentators whenever they were losing, throwing the Quaffle at the golden snitch so an approaching rival seeker couldn't catch it ... unacceptable. One hundred points will be taken away from Slytherin for this cheating."

**(Again, why take points away now? If teachers witnessed this behaviour, why didn't they punish the Slytherins then and there instead of letting them get away with it only to take away points at the end of the year? Does the entire staff of Hogwarts just love contrived dramatic coincidences that favour Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff? Isn't it enough that those two houses won; do we really need Slytherin to be in last place? At least in real HP they stayed in second.)**

One hundred points! Even for cheating, that was a little too much. The scowling, wailing Slytherins now had three hundred and fifty points – last place. "That's it," I whispered to Veronika. "We're in first place with Gryffindor in second place, and Slytherin – Dianne and Parvati – in last place! This is more than I expected! I could dance!"

"Don't; Dumbledore's talking again," murmured Sadia, grabbing my arm.

"And I witnessed several injuries in the hallways because of Slytherin attacks on students; **(again, why didn't you do **_**anything **_**to stop them then?) **there were Slytherins leading other students into restricted areas to get them in trouble and then running away, Slytherins hiding other people's cauldrons so they'd lose them and get in trouble in potions class..." Dumbledore's soft, drawling voice continued. I glanced at Dianne, remembering when she had hidden Marlena Ballestranted's cauldron before potions class to get Ravenclaw in trouble. Now she was realizing what it was like to get people in trouble on purpose.

"There will be two hundred points from Slytherin from this bullying," said Dumbledore, and the Slytherin crowd gasped and began to boo. Snape glared warningly at them. There was another gasp from the Slytherin table. They now had one hundred and fifty points!

"And for that booing we just witnessed, there will be another one hundred points taken from Slytherin!" snapped Snape angrily.

**(Okay, I officially give up trying to make sense to this. I can't even begin to point out the flaws anymore. I'll just leave it at saying that Hogwarts' point system is seriously messed up. One hundred points for a mere word of encouragement, only 50 for winning a major sports competition, and -100 for a bit of grumbling? Did I really have to milk the "Slytherin loses points" thing for all it was worth? Was it really necessary to not only have them be in last place, but to have only 50 points at the end? Man, this just goes beyond overkill; it's completely insane!)**

With last place in the House Cup, a horrible detention and Snape growling at them, I admit you had to feel a little sad for Slytherin and a little angry at Snape. Slytherins were not evil people who deserved nothing in life, they were just rotten and mean. But this didn't mean I liked Dianne.

"One hundred points from Slytherin!" Sadia exclaimed, tapping away at her calculator. **(Ah, so that's why there haven't been any simple math mistakes yet.) **"They now have – you won't believe this – even I feel sorry for them – fifty points. It's a record! The fewest House Cup points so far in history have been one hundred, which we got," – she sniffed a little –"and they've sunk below our starting point! Fifty points is usually what students get in the first few weeks, but never for the House Cup."

You had to feel sad for Slytherin – that was the last bunch of points taken or given and that was the end of the House Cup. But we had won, and Hufflepuff, for the first time in years, had too. Many people were awarded for their wisdom, love and courage, and for once Hufflepuff students were noticed and respected. You got a great feeling when you won, a feeling that you had tried your best. But even better was the feeling of a tie, when you shared your victory with another house that had tried its best, and they had a great feeling too. House cups aren't really for people to feel conceited because of their win or bad because of their loss. It's for people to feel confident and that they did a good job. Good jobs and trying your best are much, much more important than winning. And this year, both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had done both.

"So now," Dumbledore yelled above the noise, because along with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, Gryffindor were cheering at the downfall of Slytherin **(gee, that sure sounds a lot like that one line in PS where – oh, forget it), **"I would like to award Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw the House Cup. For once in Hogwarts history, there has been a tie. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw both win the House Cup."

As he lifted his hands into the air, there was another cheer, greater than before. The two winning tables went wild with excitement, cheering and stamping and clapping. Hands rained down on everybody's backs and four hundred people – two hundred from Ravenclaw and two hundred from Hufflepuff – swarmed together in a well-deserved, very loud, many armed hug. I suddenly found myself in the centre of attention – I didn't brag or feel arrogant, but gave another loud cheer. We had won the House Cup. _WE HAD WON THE HOUSE CUP! _The last thing I heard before I was buried in a pile of hugging, hand-shaking Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs was the excited voices of Pamella, Pansy, Veronika, Sadia and Rebecca cheering, "_We won the House Cup! We won the House Cup!"_

When I finally had some room to breathe and was finished shaking hands again and again with many Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, I was staring into Bradley's proud, smiling face. "You've done well, Valerina – or, I mean, the future Cherry Chang."

I was confused for a minute, then remembered Bradley's hero and nickname for me.

"I'm not that good," I confessed, but he patted me on the back.

"You steamrollered Angelina Johnson and Madeline Humor."

"I didn't mean to knock Angelina out of the air, I just wanted to shoot her off course. But yeah, I had to do it for Madeline, the way she was insulting Veronika and I – that reminds me. We have a pretty great team this year, and it's not because of me. It's mainly because of you, Bradley. You're better than Cherry Chang could ever be, and that's not just because you're a Seeker. It's because you're encouraging and wise and friendly and, well **(*shippers lean forward eagerly*)**... my friend. **(*Shippers sink back in disappointment.*) **And our team's great because of everyone else. I mean, we have three challenging chasers."

I waved my hand at a smiling Katie Bell, Brandee Tresant and Veronika.

"We've got two unbeatable beaters," I added, pointing to Sadia, and black-haired Bradley Tamble who was talking to Hufflepuff William Warrington about winning the House Cup.

"And we've got a keeper who deserves a lot of congratulations," I finished, patting Alicia McTamble on the back. **(Ah, alliteration.)**

**(As a side note, I love how the story has to re-introduce all these characters because they're so bland and one-dimensional that the average reader has pretty much forgotten them by now.)**

"We've all got the best team ever," Bradley finished, then shook my hand repeatedly before he went off to talk to a group of Hufflepuffs.

The crowd of Ravenclaws was still screaming and cheering with delight, crowding together and slapping people on the back. **(You'd think they'd have gotten sick of that by now...) **Dumbledore clapped with all the other teachers and had to wait a long time for the commotion and cheering to stop. Even Gryffindors were clapping loudly because they had waited so many years to see Slytherin flattened in the House Championship. At the Ravenclaw table, Kalinka Wispan and Penelope Clearwaters were jumping up and down hugging. Pansy was cheering loudly with Rebecca and her friends Heather Brocklehurst and Kristen Parker. A revived Katrina Labont hugged Bradley Labont while a revived Priscilla Tamble hugged Bradley Tamble. Erica Balls, who had also been unconscious, was cheering and stamping her feet in delight.

And then the cheering from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff grew louder and louder, followed by a great silence. The flags overhead were flapping in the wind from the open windows, and slowly the green flag of Slytherin seemed to be blown away along with their triumphs. Blue and yellow of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff now flared proudly on the flags, each one adorned with an R or P. **(Why a P? Yay for spelling!) **As the food appeared before our very eyes on our plates, we ate under two towering tapestries behind the high teacher's table – a magnificent raven and a spectacular badger.

Moonridge the raven swooped in through the window, dropping a letter from Pamella's mother saying that she had the permissions of Veronika's mom, Sadia's mom and my mom and we could visit the Parkinsons during the summer holidays. This had been a sensational year, winning the House Cup, playing my first Quidditch game, now seeing we could go to Pamella's for the summer holidays and watch the National Quidditch teams battle for the worldwide Quidditch cup. But what was more than that was that I had realized the wisdom of Ravenclaw was more than getting As on a test or answering every question correctly, as I had thought it was during the beginning of the year. But down in the chamber, my darkest hour had taught me that when your friends are in their darkest hours, you must do anything it takes to save them, even if it means laying down your life. You must love. And all that I really needed to know during this school year is that love is the greatest kind of wisdom there is.

So the Great Hall ate the end-of-the-year feast, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables being the noisiest of course. When the feast was over, we all gave a great cheer and tossed our long, black hats into the air to celebrate the end of another school year. At the Slytherin table, Dianne and her gang only pounded theirs with their fists. As I caught my hat, I knew that this was the best day of my life. Better than Quidditch or knocking out giant spiders or the start-of-the-year fest. It was the best day of my life, and one I would never forget.

And so we won the House Cup, our exams were handed back – Sadia got straight As of course, along with all of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and most of Gryffindor. **(**_**Really?) **_Lots of people got Bs. **(Like who, just the Slytherins?) **Even nervous, shy Rebecca got As, because she was very excellent at Herbology and Fantastic Beasts – and Dumbledore began a speech **(**_**why?**_**)** telling us Rebecca's sister Helena had passed Defence Against the Dark Arts with an A+ and she was allowed to keep the jobberix because Helena could take care of it. After Rebecca pleaded with Dumbledore to let me have it, he said I could, but I told Rebecca it was hers and she accepted. Following this there was a great cheer for Rebecca **(again, **_**why?) **_who was somewhat embarrassed. Not only did she help Ravenclaw win the House Cup, now her sister had top marks and she could keep the jobberix, alongside her owl Rufus. And after that we had a whole day to relax – but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff towers partied wildly. It was no different from the party the night we had won the Quidditch match, but before long everybody got so tired there was nothing to do but watch Pamella and Pansy chase their sneaky brother Marvin around the common room because he had played a trick on them.

And then all our bags were packed up ... we said goodbye to the common room for two whole months and were bid farewell by the teachers, the ghosts, the pictures and even the walking statues and cots of armour ... notes saying we were not allowed to use magic outside of school were handed out to us (Sadia ***coughHermione* **moaned) ... and we said goodbye to good old Hogwarts and passed through the big oak doors before they swung shut behind us. We boarded the boats that took us across the great lake ... our bags were packed up in the loading compartment on the train ... we were boarding the train, and finally chugging away. Surrounded by cauldron cakes and pumpkin pastries we had bought from the trolley, I somewhat sadly watched the great towering castle with its turrets and banners disappear behind a misty blue mountain. The train chugged through a shady grove of trees and sped over acres of flat countryside.

As we sped past country houses, Pamella offered me a delicious peppermint cream that was shaped like a toad, **which had jumped straight out of the Honeydukes chapter of PoA.**

"No thanks," I said without much expression, and turned to watch the mountains disappear from view. Sitting at the back of the train, Pamella, Pansy, Veronika, Sadia, Rebecca and I had a great view of the land through the two wide back windows.

"What's wrong?" asked Pansy warmly.

I stared lovingly at my friends. "Nothing much," I said.

"Something is wrong," Sadia said. "We're your friends, you can tell us."

I sighed and admitted, "It's Hogwarts. We won't see it for two whole months until we come back for our second year."

"Come on," Pamella laughed. "Get those lessons off your shoulders. It's summer vacation. Let's have some fun!" She grabbed my shoulders and shook me around as if trying to wobble some lessons off my shoulders.

I laughed, joining in the fun. Two whole months away from Hogwarts didn't mean two whole months away from my friends. Right from the beginning of our year we had been loyal, true, and patient to each other. I could ask for nothing more.

"And you're coming over to my house, remember!" exclaimed Pamella. "It's real big and all made of wood; we live out in the countryside. We have our own little Quidditch pitch and a great big cauldron to make good-tasting potions in at night and have campfires. And the Quidditch teams are competing on TV; you can watch. The Falmouth Falcons are bound to win; they're my favourite and really the best. They're tougher and rougher than any other team and their seeker's light and speedy. But I also like the..."

Pamella continued on and on, but the other teams she liked I never heard. I was staring out the wide window, Dumbledore's words ringing in my ears: the dead we love are never really gone forever. They live inside us. **(Aw, pointless sentiment!) **And I really knew that Dumbledore's words were true.

Suddenly a surprising thought struck me.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, turning to my friends. "My family, except for Velma and Ginny, don't know that I'm the LINK of Ravenclaw! Amazing, isn't it! **(**_**Seriously, **_**girl? In all those letters you said you wrote to them while you were in the hospital wing, you didn't even let it slip out that you were the LINK OF RAVENCLAW?) **When we get to your house, Pamella, I'll have to write them a letter and send it off with Moonridge. And when they get the letter, it will seem ordinary. They won't know it's written inside that I'm the LINK of Ravenclaw. Oh, when they open it ... I'm going to have a lot of fun with my family this year, guys. They'll be so surprised..."

_The End_

**A/N: So that's all, guys! A million thanks to anyone who's read this far, and a special thank you to my Mom for reading this way back when I was a little kid, my sister for encouraging me to put it up in its original 'splendor,' and NectarandAmbrosia for being the first ever reviewer. **


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